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Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expressed gratitude to the Ministry of External Affairs for the safe evacuation of Kashmiri students from war-affected Iran.  Currently, around 1,300-1,400 Kashmiri students pursuing their education in Iran, out of a total of 6,000 to 8,000 Indians from the entire country.

 

He praised External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar for bringing back the students from the war-torn country and said they are being evacuated under a plan, as ports and airports are closed.

 

His father and the current NC chief, Dr Farooq Abdullah, also expressed similar remarks, thanking the Central Government's efforts for bringing back Indian citizens from war-torn Iran.

 

“This is our responsibility. Our children had gone there to pursue education. The situation deteriorated, and naturally, their parents were worried. If I were in their place, I would have been worried too. The students themselves wanted to leave from there,” Abdullah told reporters here.

 

Abdullah assured that all the students would be brought back and added, “Yesterday, we brought back around 90 students and today about 300–400 more are being evacuated. We will get them out quickly. About 1,300 to 1,400 students are from Jammu and Kashmir, and overall, between 6,000 to 8,000 are from the entire country.”

 

After receiving several complaints from the students returning home, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah sent deluxe buses to ferry the students from Delhi to Kashmir.

 

Some of the returnees also demanded the Vande Bharat Express facility to come back home, while it is important to mention that the Vande Bharat Express, since its inauguration on June 6, is booked for almost a month.

 

These demands are met with quite a bit of scepticism from the locals and parents alike of these students on social media; some users even labelled them as “spoilt kids” for their high demands despite returning from a war zone.

 

Approximately 110 Indian students, including 94 from Kashmir, were evacuated from Iran and arrived in New Delhi on Thursday. The evacuation involved transit through Armenia and Qatar, with students first moved to Armenia and then flown to Doha before reaching India. Besides, a new batch of 500 students is likely to arrive in Kashmir tomorrow.