India has spent ₹216 crore on major evacuation missions over the past five years, bringing home more than 32,000 stranded citizens from conflict‑hit regions including Ukraine, Sudan, Israel, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Haiti and others, according to details shared by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in Parliament.
The largest operation was Operation Ganga during the Russia–Ukraine war, which rescued 18,282 Indians at a cost of ₹116.58 crore, accounting for more than half of the total expenditure. Other major missions included:
- Operation Devi Shakti — evacuated 669 people from Afghanistan in 2021 (₹1.90 crore).
- Operation Kaveri — rescued 4,097 people, including 136 foreign nationals, from Sudan in 2023 (₹45.63 crore).
- Operation Ajay — evacuated 1,343 Indians during the Israel–Hamas conflict.
- Smaller missions from Haiti (Operation Indravati), Syria, Iraq, and the Thailand–Myanmar border, along with a humanitarian airlift returning the mortal remains of 45 Indians from Kuwait.
The MEA also highlighted extensive operations linked to the West Asia crisis, especially in Iran:
- Operation Sindhu (2025) evacuated 3,597 Indians from Iran (₹27.68 crore) and 818 from Israel.
- In 2026, India facilitated the cross‑border movement of 2,557 Indians from Iran as tensions escalated.
Beyond formal evacuations, Indian embassies and consulates assisted 140,605 nationals in returning home by arranging transit visas, transport, accommodation, border movement, and flight clearances. The largest assisted returns were from Qatar (100,000) and Kuwait (30,000).
These operations underline India’s expanding global consular footprint and its commitment to protecting citizens during geopolitical crises.