Lok Sabha Question No. 1904 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-06
Subject: Indians Stuck in International Warzones/Volatile Regions
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Shri Putta Mahesh Kumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 1904

## ANSWERED ON - 06/12/2024

## INDIANS STUCK IN INTERNATIONAL WARZONES/VOLATILE REGIONS

## 1904. SHRI PUTTA MAHESH KUMAR:

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state :-

(a) the total number of Indian nationals who have been reported stranded, injured, or deceased in various international war zones during   the   last   five   years,   country/State/area-wise   especially individuals from Andhra Pradesh;

(b) the steps / diplomatic measures undertaken by the Government to ensure the safe evacuation and repatriation of Indian citizens from war zones including collaboration with foreign governments, establishment   of   emergency   hotlines   and   coordination   with international organisations;

(c) the total amount of funds allocated / utilised for evacuation, relief and rehabilitation programmes for Indian citizens affected by conflicts in foreign nations during the last five years, Country-wise and year-wise;

(d)   whether   the   Government   has   issued   any   advisory   notices regarding countries / regions which are not safe to travel due to the present security concerns; and

(e) if so, the details thereof including the list of the same?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

(a) During the previous five years, a total no. of 24,017 Indians and 391 foreign nationals, reported stranded in war/volatile situations in Afghanistan,   Ukraine,   Sudan,   Israel   and   Haiti,   were   safely evacuated   under   various   operations.   Operation-wise   details   are provided   below.   State/UT-wise   details   as   available   are   placed below. As per available records, information regarding injured and deceased Indian nationals in various international war zones is also placed below.

## Operation-wise details of evacuation of stranded Indian nationals

|   Year | Country & Name of the Operation   | Total number of people evacuated (including foreign nationals)   |
|--------|-----------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|   2021 | Afghanistan                       | 669 (including 15 other foreign nationals and 206 Afghans,       |

|      | Operation Devi Shakti     | which includes members of the Afghan Hindu/Sikh minority)      |
|------|---------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2022 | Ukraine Operation Ganga   | 18,282                                                         |
| 2023 | Sudan Operation Kaveri    | 4,097 (including 136 foreign nationals)                        |
| 2023 | Israel Operation Ajay     | 1,343 (including 14 OCI card holders and 20 foreign nationals) |
| 2024 | Haiti Operation Indravati | 17                                                             |

|   Sl. No. | State / Union Territory   |   Number |
|-----------|---------------------------|----------|
|         1 | Andaman & Nicobor         |        4 |
|         2 | Andhra Pradesh            |      682 |
|         3 | Arunachal Pradesh         |        1 |
|         4 | Assam                     |       53 |
|         5 | Bihar                     |     1003 |
|         6 | Chandigarh                |       52 |
|         7 | Chhattisgarh              |      210 |
|         8 | Dadar & Nagar Haveli      |        5 |
|         9 | Daman & Diu               |        5 |
|        10 | Delhi                     |      681 |
|        11 | Goa                       |       18 |
|        12 | Gujarat                   |     1020 |
|        13 | Haryana                   |     1436 |
|        14 | Himachal Pradesh          |      289 |
|        15 | Jammu & Kashmir           |      128 |
|        16 | Jharkhand                 |      158 |
|        17 | Karnataka                 |      615 |
|        18 | Kerala                    |     3343 |
|        19 | Lakshadweep               |        4 |
|        20 | Madhya Pradesh            |      412 |
|        21 | Maharashtra               |     1025 |

| 22   | Manipur                  |    23 |
|------|--------------------------|-------|
| 23   | Meghalaya                |    40 |
| 24   | Mizoram                  |     1 |
| 25   | Nagaland                 |     4 |
| 26   | Odisha                   |   397 |
| 27   | Puducherry               |    28 |
| 28   | Punjab                   |   609 |
| 29   | Rajasthan                |   934 |
| 30   | Sikkim                   |    26 |
| 31   | Tamil Nadu               |  1479 |
| 32   | Telangana                |   667 |
| 33   | Tripura                  |    32 |
| 34   | Uttar Pradesh            |  1917 |
| 35   | Uttarakhand              |   257 |
| 36   | West Bengal              |   343 |
| 37   | State Name not available |   272 |
|      | TOTAL                    | 18282 |

|   Sl.No. | State / Union Territory Number   |
|----------|----------------------------------|
|        1 | Andhra Pradesh 106               |
|        2 | Assam 13                         |
|        3 | Bihar 370                        |
|        4 | Chandigarh 1                     |
|        5 | Chhattisgarh 3                   |
|        6 | Delhi 27                         |
|        7 | Gujarat 492                      |
|        8 | Haryana 39                       |
|        9 | Himachal Pradesh 25              |
|       10 | Jammu and Kashmir 1              |
|       11 | Jharkhand 62                     |
|       12 | Karnataka 418                    |
|       13 | Kerala 172                       |
|       14 | Madhya Pradesh 20                |
|       15 | Maharashtra 337                  |
|       16 | Manipur 1                        |
|       17 | Nagaland 3                       |
|       18 | Odisha 86                        |
|       19 | Punjab 62                        |
|       20 | Pondicherry 7                    |
|       21 | Rajasthan 87                     |

|   22 | Tamil Nadu                                                   |   244 |
|------|--------------------------------------------------------------|-------|
|   23 | Telangana                                                    |   129 |
|   24 | Uttar Pradesh                                                |   800 |
|   25 | Uttarakhand                                                  |    24 |
|   26 | West Bengal                                                  |    52 |
|   27 | State Name not available                                     |   380 |
|   28 | Total Indian Citizens                                        |  3961 |
|   29 | Foreign Nationals (British- 3 + Sudanese-124 + Nepalese - 9) |   136 |
|   30 | GRAND TOTAL (3961 + 136)                                     |  4097 |

## State-wise list of Indian  citizens evacuated under Operation Ajay

|   Sl. No. | State          |   Number |
|-----------|----------------|----------|
|         1 | Andhra Pradesh |       45 |
|         2 | Assam          |       20 |
|         3 | Bihar          |       29 |
|         4 | Chattisgarh    |        6 |
|         5 | Delhi          |       36 |
|         6 | Goa            |        3 |

|   7. | Gujarat          |   34 |
|------|------------------|------|
|    8 | Haryana          |   28 |
|    9 | Himachal Pradesh |   18 |
|   10 | Jammu & Kashmir  |    9 |
|   11 | Jharkhand        |   13 |
|   12 | Karnataka        |   39 |
|   13 | Kerala           |  121 |
|   14 | Madhya Pradesh   |   14 |
|   15 | Maharashtra      |  108 |
|   16 | Manipur          |   23 |
|   17 | Meghalaya        |    2 |
|   18 | Mizoram          |    1 |

|   19. | Nagaland             |   2 |
|-------|----------------------|-----|
|    20 | Odisha               |  20 |
|    21 | Punjab               |   9 |
|    22 | Rajasthan            |  33 |
|    23 | Sikkim               |  11 |
|    24 | Tamil Nadu           | 131 |
|    25 | Telangana            |  70 |
|    26 | Uttar Pradesh        | 145 |
|    27 | Uttarakhand          |  14 |
|    28 | West Bengal          | 248 |
|    29 | States not mentioned |  77 |

|   30. | TOTAL INDIAN CITIZENS                 |   1309 |
|-------|---------------------------------------|--------|
|    31 | OCI Card holders (14) & Nepalese (20) |     34 |
|    32 | GRAND TOTAL (1309 + 34)               |   1343 |

## State-wise list of Indian citizens evacuated under Operation Indravati

| Sl. No.   | State          |   Number |
|-----------|----------------|----------|
| 1         | Madhya Pradesh |        1 |
| 2         | Gujarat        |        1 |
| 3         | Maharashtra    |        1 |
| 4         | Karnataka      |        2 |
| 5         | Tamil Nadu     |        3 |
| 6         | Uttar Pradesh  |        1 |
| 7         | Telangana      |        1 |
| 8         | New Delhi      |        1 |
| 9         | Kerala         |        1 |
| 10        | Odisha         |        1 |
| 11        | Unregistered   |        4 |
|           | Total          |       17 |

## war zones

| Year   | Name of Country   | No. of injured Indian nationals   | No. of deceased Indian nationals   |
|--------|-------------------|-----------------------------------|------------------------------------|
| 2021   | Gaza, Palestine   | Nil                               | 1 ( Kerala)                        |
| 2022   | Ukraine           | 1                                 | 1                                  |
| 2023   | Sudan             | Nil                               | 1 (Kerala)                         |
| 2023   | Israel            | 1                                 | Nil                                |
|        | Gaza, Palestine   | Nil                               | 1 (Maharashtra)                    |
|        | Israel            | 2 (Kerala)                        | 1 (Kerala)                         |
|        | Russia            | 7                                 | 10                                 |

| 2024   | (2-Uttar Pradesh 2-Punjab; 1-Rajasthan; 1-Haryana; 1-West Bengal)   | (2-Uttar Pradesh; 1-Haryana; 1-Punjab; 1-Uttarakhand; 1-Telangana; 2-Gujarat; 1-Kerala; 1-Odisha)   |
|--------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

(b) & (c) Government accords highest priority to the safety, security and   well-being   of   Indians   abroad and   launches   evacuation operations in coordination with other stakeholders in Government of India   to   safely   evacuate   stranded   Indian   nationals.   Government remains in constant touch with its counterparts through diplomatic channels   for   safety   and   security   of   Indians   during   evacuation process. If required, it also engages local volunteers from the Indian community for logistics support. 24x7 Control Rooms are operated at headquarters and abroad to facilitate the evacuation process.

The evacuation operations undertaken in international warzones/volatile   regions   during   the   last   five   years   alongwith expenditure thereon are as follows :-

| Year                                   | Country & Name of the Operation                                                                                      | Total number of people evacuated (including foreign nationals)   | Expenditure (in ) ₹   |
|----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------|
| 2021 Afghanistan Operation Devi Shakti | 669 (including 15 other foreign nationals and 206 Afghans, which includes members of the Afghan Hindu/Sikh minority) |                                                                  | 1.90 crore            |
| 2022                                   | Ukraine Operation Ganga                                                                                              | 18,282 116.58 crore                                              |                       |
| 2023                                   | Sudan Operation Kaveri 4,097 (including 136 nationals)                                                               | foreign                                                          | 45.63 crore           |
| 2023                                   | Israel Operation Ajay                                                                                                | 1,343 (including 14 OCI card holders and 20 foreign nationals)   | 16.87 crore           |

| 2024   | Haiti     | 17   | 48.34 lakh   |
|--------|-----------|------|--------------|
|        | Operation |      |              |
|        | Indravati |      |              |

(d)   &   (e) Yes,   Government   issues   advisories   as   required   by developments, especially in war-hit countries/volatile regions, to caution   Indian   citizens   to   avoid   unnecessary   travel   and   follow safety guidelines issued by local authorities. Additionally, Indian Missions in foreign countries also issue advisories requesting Indian Nationals to avoid unnecessary travel and remain in touch with the Indian Mission on published helpline numbers. List of recent travel advisories   issued   by   Government   of   India   and   Indian   Missions abroad is placed below.

|   S/No | Country name   | Date of Issue    |
|--------|----------------|------------------|
|      1 | Iran           | 02 October 2024  |
|      2 | Libya          | 06 August 2024   |
|      3 | Bangladesh     | 04 August 2024   |
|      4 | Iran, Israel   | 12 April 2024    |
|      5 | Israel         | 12 April 2024    |
|      6 | Myanmar        | 06 Feb 2024      |
|      7 | Myanmar        | 21 November 2023 |

|   8. | Canada    | 20 September 2023   |
|------|-----------|---------------------|
|    9 | Niger     | 11 August 2023      |
|   10 | Niger     | 27 July 2023        |
|   11 | Sudan     | 23 April 2023       |
|   12 | Sudan     | 16 April 2023       |
|   13 | Iraq      | 18 Feb 2020         |
|   14 | Iraq      | 08 January 2020     |
|   15 | Haiti     | 02 December 2019    |
|   16 | Ethiopia  | 21 June 2019        |
|   17 | Sri Lanka | 28 May 2019         |

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