Parliament Question: Evacuation of Indians National Abroad

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 1023 ANSWERED ON – 24/07/2026 EVACUATION OF INDIANS NATIONAL ABROAD

1023. SHRI RAMASAHAYAM RAGHURAM REDDY:

DR. KIRSAN NAMDEO:

DR. AMAR SINGH:

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) whether incidents involving attacks, harassment, detention or exploitation of Indian citizens, students and workers abroad have increased during the last three years;

(b) if so, the details of such incidents reported during last three years, country-wise and the assistance provided by Indian Missions;

(c) whether the Government has taken any recent diplomatic initiatives to safeguard the interests, safety and timely evacuation of Indian nationals from conflict-affected regions across the world, if so, the details of such initiatives, including the number of Indian citizens 1assisted through evacuation, consular support and emergency helplines 24×7 during the last two years;

(d) whether the Government proposes to further strengthen India's crisis response mechanism through additional missions, digital consular services and coordination with friendly countries; and

(e) the steps taken to ensure faster communication and assistance to overseas Indians during international emergencies? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

(a) & (b) Country-wise details of incidents related to attacks, harassment, detention or exploitation of Indian citizens, including students and workers, during last 3 years are enclosed at Annexure-I.

All the cases have been promptly and appropriately assisted by the Indian Missions abroad and taken up with the concerned authorities of the host country to ensure that the cases are properly investigated and action initiated against the perpetrators as per their domestic laws.

2These issues are also raised at the political and official level with the countries concerned during bilateral engagements and through institutional dialogue mechanisms, including at the highest levels, as appropriate.

(c) to (e) Government accords utmost priority to the safety, security and well-being of the Indian nationals abroad, and has undertaken various operations to safely evacuate stranded Indian nationals from conflict regions. Details of India’s evacuations/ operations in last 2 years are attached at Annexure-II.

Government utilizes a structured, multi-layered crisis response mechanism, which includes issue of advisories to caution Indian nationals, activate communication mechanisms to enable Indian nationals to reach Indian Missions/Posts, and, when required, to launch evacuation operations. Government also remains in continuous contact with its counterparts in host governments through diplomatic channels to ensure safety and well-being of the Indian nationals abroad.

With a view to swiftly responding to crisis situations faced by overseas Indian nationals, the Ministry’s ‘Rapid Response Cell (RRC)’ coordinates with all agencies, services, armed forces and Ministries, for the 3execution of evacuation operations. Ministry has also developed and is undertaking final trials of the Digital Emergency Response Solution for use during planning and execution of evacuation operations.

4Annexure-I Number of incidents involving attacks, harassment, detention and exploitation of Indian citizens, students and workers abroad during the last 3 years Country Number of incidents/Indian nationals Bahrain 1659 (labour grievances) Cambodia 2489 (Indian nationals rescued from scam centres) Canada 16 05 Croatia (attack on workers) 14 Dominican Republic

(detained) 02 Eswatini (detention of 4 Indians) 133 Germany (including accommodation scam with 119 students) 01 Guyana (grievance from a group of 37 workers) 01 Iraq (worker grievance) 30 Ireland

(attacks) 01 Israel

(attack) 02 Italy (attack and exploitation) 10111 Kuwait (assisted and repatriated in labour, conflict, medical emergency cases) 2318 Lao PDR (Indians rescued from Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone) 504 Latvia

(attacks) 12733 Malaysia (labour complaints, detention and deportation) 07 Maldives 05 Mali (abduction involving 13 Indian nationals) 2078 Myanmar (rescued from cyber scam centres) 02 Niger (2 cases of abduction of 8 Indians) 109 Philippines

(detained) 84 Russia (detention cases and attacks on students) 2000 Saudi Arabia

(detained) 20 Serbia (assisted upon detention) 147 Seychelles (labour grievance including 01 harassment case) 46 Slovak Republic 03 Slovenia

(attacks) 02 South Africa (deportation of 2 Indians) 555 (visa violation and exploitation) Sri Lanka 07 Syria (Indians in distress) 1964 Thailand (rescued from cyber scam centres) 01 Turkiye

(harassment) 02 Ukraine 6(student grievance) 27 USA

(attacks) 7Annexure-II Details of evacuations/operations undertaken by Government during last 2 years in conflict affected regions Country & Name of the Number of evacuated Indian Year Operation nationals Haiti 2024 17 Operation Indravati 2024-25 Syria 86 2022-25 Iraq 135 Kuwait (Special Humanitarian 45 2024 Airlift of deceased Indian (mortal remains) nationals) Iran 3597 Operation Sindhu (excluding 14 OCI Card 2025 holders and 14 foreign nationals) Israel 2025 818 Operation Sindhu Repatriation of Indian nationals forced to work 2025-26 in cyber-scam centres 1741 alongside Myanmar- Thailand Border Sri Lanka 2500 HADR Operation Sagar (424 Indians evacuated by Bandhu special IAF flights on gratis 2025 basis and 2076 Indians were facilitated to return by commercial flights) 8Iran via Armenia (Cross-border movement of Indian nationals from 2026 2557 Iran via Armenia to return by available flights during recent West Asia crisis) ****** 9