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4 min readNew DelhiMar 6, 2026 04:30 AM IST
A man reunites with his family members, in Ranchi on Thursday. (ANI)
AS THE US-Israel-Iran war enters its sixth day, around 12,000 Indian citizens stranded in the Gulf countries have sought the help of the Indian government for their return and are in touch with embassies across the region, The Indian Express has learnt.
Most requests have come from those stuck in the United Arab Emirates, where air space remains largely closed and commercial flight operations continue to be suspended amid unrelenting attack from the Iranian side.
Sources said the stranded Indians include tourists and transit visitors, who were in the UAE for short durations. Some of them are also students whose educational institutions have shut in the wake of Iranian attacks, or have switched to online classes.
As of Monday, two days after the war started, around 22,000 Indian nationals had reached out to the Indian government through various missions, seeking return to India, as per sources. Of them, around 10,000 have been able to return in the last three days through some non-scheduled flights operating from the region.
Around 850 Indian nationals sought to return from Doha, where air space is completely shut, as per the source. They were able to return to India through Riyadh airport after taking the land route to cross over to Saudi Arabia.
As Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha – among the busiest airports in the region – continue to be shut for scheduled flight operations, some flights have taken off from Fujairah in the UAE.
The UAE remains the biggest point of concern for the Indian side, as per those monitoring the situation, because of the sheer volume of Indian nationals in the country and also because it has been constantly under attack from Iran.
In fact, many have been lining up at the UAE-Oman border to cross over through the land route and take flights back home through the Muscat airport. There have been reports of huge queues and delays faced by Indian nationals at the immigration check post. In the wake, the Indian Embassy in Muscat on Wednesday advised Indian nationals that prior obtaining of visit/tourist visa is required to enter Oman.
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Around one crore Indian nationals are presently living across the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries – UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait – with the UAE hosting over 30 lakh Indian citizens. On Tuesday, the Ministry of External Affairs in a statement said the safety and well-being of the Indians living in the Gulf countries are of “utmost priority” for New Delhi. “We cannot be impervious to any development that negatively affects them,” it said.
On Wednesday, the MEA announced the setting up of a control room to assist those affected by the escalating crisis in West Asia. Some special non-scheduled flights have landed in Mumbai, New Delhi, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru over the past couple of days.
“Various missions are in touch with Indian citizens across the region, advising them from time to time on safety measures,” as per the source.
On Thursday, the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi issued an advisory for Indian nationals residing in the UAE to remain vigilant and follow the safety guidelines of the authorities. New Delhi hasn’t yet announced any evacuation plans for Indian citizens in the Gulf region.
Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More
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