- Concerns grow over safety of Indians stranded amid Middle East conflict and airspace closures
- Families in Uttar Pradesh and other states worry about relatives in Bahrain, Dubai, and conflict zones
- 84 Pune MBA students stranded in Dubai after airport closures are safe and accommodated in a hotel
Concerns continue to mount over the safety of Indians stranded abroad amid tensions in the Middle East as tit-for-tat strikes continue with Iran on one side and US and Israel on the other. The conflict has engulfed a major part of the region, home to many Indians and also a major transit point for travellers going to or from India to farther parts of the world.
Many families in Uttar Pradesh are anxious about the well-being of their near and dear ones living in the conflict-hit region, PTI reported, among them Jaunpur's Jai Pandey. When Pandey called his brother, working as country head of a multinational construction company in Bahrain, on Saturday to inquire about his well-being, he was informed of the state of emergency. " While the family is safe, they are afraid that the situation might turn bad after the attacks," he said.
Lucknow resident Archana Joshi tolf PTI she worries about her daughter settled in Dubai, but feels helpless with the both airports in the world's largest aviation hub having closed down.
Also stranded in Dubai are 84 MBA students from a Pune-based Indira School of Business Studies (ISBS), who had gone to the city as part of an annual five-day study tour. While 40 students were scheduled to return to Pune on Saturday, the remaining 44 were to board a flight on Sunday. "All are safe and have been moved to a hotel," ISBS Dean Janardhan Pawar said.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said 32 individuals from Ballari are presently stranded in Dubai and appropriate steps are being taken to ensure their safety. He also assured all necessary measures are being undertaken to ensure the safety of Indian citizens residing in the Middle Eastern countries. Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivkumar said, "We must protect those who are stranded there. People have gone there from Kerala, Karnataka, and other states. The Central Government is working to ensure the safety of all of them."
From Jammu and Kashmir, around 1,200 students in affected Iranian territories await evacuation, National Convenor of the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association Nasir Khuehami told ANI. He said the association has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the government to open diplomatic channels and raise the issue of the evacuation of Indian students.
Hundreds of thousands of travelers were either stranded or diverted to other airports after Israel, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain closed their airspace, a day after US and Israel launched attacks on Iran and the latter retaliated. On Sunday, it was announced that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in Saturday's strikes, triggering a wave of protests among the Shia community across the world.
India's Ministry of Civil Aviation announced that 444 flights are expected to be cancelled on Sunday due to the airspace restrictions.
Airlines that are crossing the Middle East will have to reroute flights around the conflict with many flights headed south over Saudi Arabia. That will add hours to those flights and consume additional fuel, adding to the costs airlines will have to absorb. So ticket prices could quickly start to increase if the conflict lingers.
