Srinagar, Mar 14 (KNS): More than 70 Indian students, most of them from Jammu and Kashmir, who were stranded in Iran amid the ongoing conflict in the region are returning to India and are expected to arrive in New Delhi on Sunday morning, the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association said on Saturday.
In a statement, the association’s national convenor Nasir Khuehami said the students are travelling on a commercial flight and will reach Indira Gandhi International Airport via a connecting journey through Armenia and Dubai.
He said the group departed from Zvartnots International Airport on a Flydubai flight carrying more than 70 Indian students along with other passengers.
According to the association, the first leg of the journey left Yerevan for Dubai International Airport at 13:25 local time on March 14 and is expected to reach Dubai at 17:00.
From Dubai, the students are scheduled to board another Flydubai flight which will depart at 05:05 local time and land in New Delhi at around 9:55 am (IST) on Sunday.
Khuehami said most of the students are enrolled at Urmia University of Medical Sciences and Tehran University of Medical Sciences, among other institutions in Iran.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel
He said the students travelled by buses from different cities in Iran and undertook a land journey to Armenia before boarding the flight from Yerevan.
Earlier, the students had been relocated to safer locations by the Embassy of India in Tehran. Another group of students studying in Kerman has also been shifted to the relatively safer city of Qom as a precautionary measure, the association said.
The association said it was coordinating with the Ministry of External Affairs and Indian missions in Tehran and Yerevan to secure transit permissions and flight arrangements for the stranded students.
Khuehami said the matter had also been raised with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, following which the required permissions for land transit and travel were granted.
The association added that the MEA has advised Indian students in Iran to avoid sharing their exact locations or personal details on social media as a precaution amid the volatile security situation.(KNS).