With airspace closing and missiles flying, the Ministry of External Affairs is reportedly activating emergency C-17 airlifts to pull thousands of Indians out of the line of fire.
The sirens in Tel Aviv and the grounded fleets in Tehran have forced New Delhi’s hand.
Information trickling out of South Block suggests that Operation Sindhu 2026 is moving from “standby” to “active” status as of this morning. It’s the call thousands of panicked Indian students and workers have been waiting for since the regional conflict spiraled out of control last week.
We aren’t just talking about a few commercial charters anymore. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is reportedly coordinating with the Indian Air Force to deploy heavy-duty C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft to transit hubs.
But don’t expect a simple boarding process.
The logistics are a nightmare. With Israeli airspace restricted and Iranian skies effectively a no-fly zone for civilian carriers, the MEA is looking at “leapfrog” routes through Jordan, Armenia, and Oman. It’s a repeat of the 2025 playbook, but with much higher stakes and a lot more gunpowder in the air.
“We’ve been told to keep our bags packed and stay away from the windows,” one engineering student in Haifa told us via an encrypted message. “The embassy hasn’t given us a time, just a promise that they’re coming.”
Is the government ready for the scale of this?
There are an estimated 18,000 Indians in Israel and another 5,000 in Iran. While not everyone wants to leave, the sheer volume of SOS calls hitting the MADAD portal has reached a fever pitch.
Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has been on the phone with his counterparts in Tehran and Tel Aviv since 3:00 AM. The goal is simple: secure a “humanitarian corridor” for at least six hours. That’s all the time a C-17 needs to get in, load 300 souls, and get out before the next round of strikes.
But the window is closing fast.
Commercial airlines like IndiGo and Air India have already scrubbed their Gulf schedules through March 15. If you’re stuck in Tehran right now, your only way out is likely a grueling 15-hour bus ride to the Armenian border or a seat on a military transport.
Critics say the government waited too long. They argue the “utmost caution” advisory issued on March 1 should have been a “leave now” order. But the MEA knows that a premature mass evacuation triggers its own kind of chaos.
They’ve done this before. From Operation Ajay to the first Operation Sindhu in 2025, India has become the world leader in getting its people out of burning buildings. But 2026 feels different. The drone swarms are more frequent, and the diplomatic bridges are thinner than ever.
The cost of this operation will be astronomical. Between fuel, insurance surcharges for flying into war zones, and domestic logistics, the exchequer is looking at a multi-crore bill. Nobody in the cabinet seems to care about the price tag right now—the political cost of leaving a single student behind is much higher.
Specific pick-up points haven’t been publicized for security reasons. If you’re an Indian national in the region, your instructions are clear: stay registered, keep your phone charged, and don’t move until you get the SMS from the embassy.
The first bird is expected to touch down at Hindon Air Force Station late tonight if the corridors hold.
And they better hold.
Because if this conflict shifts from a regional skirmish to a full-scale continental war, even the mighty C-17 won’t be enough to bring everyone home.
The next 24 hours will determine if Operation Sindhu is a triumph of Indian diplomacy or a frantic race against the clock.
