India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reported on 31 March 2026 that 572,000 Indian nationals have returned home from West Asia in just over a month, underscoring the scale of mobility disruption caused by regional hostilities and cascading airspace closures. Daily non-scheduled flights, multi-country transit corridors and targeted seafarer evacuations form the backbone of the operation.
![MEA says 5.72 lakh Indians have been repatriated from conflict-hit West Asia since 28 February]()
Amid such fluid travel conditions, companies and individuals grappling with last-minute itinerary changes can streamline the paperwork side of the journey through VisaHQ’s online platform. The firm’s India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/) offers real-time visa requirement checks, document concierge services and expert support that can be invaluable when rerouting travellers across multiple jurisdictions at short notice.
According to the MEA, partial reopening of Qatar’s airspace allowed 8–10 extra services to operate on Tuesday, while 85 scheduled flights departed the UAE. Kuwait and Bahrain remain closed, forcing authorities to route passengers via Saudi Arabia or Oman. Indians leaving Iran are being channelled through Armenia and Azerbaijan; those in Israel connect via Egypt and Jordan. The Directorate General of Shipping confirmed that 959 Indian seafarers have been rotated out of the Persian Gulf since late February, with 18 Indian-flagged vessels and 485 crew still in zone but “safe and accounted for”. No congestion has been reported at Indian ports despite the surge in arrivals, thanks to advance berthing plans and automated customs clearance. For companies with staff in the Gulf the figures highlight the urgency of updating traveller tracking systems. Global mobility teams are advised to cross-check employee locations against MEA advisories and ensure health-insurance policies cover war-risk exclusions now being triggered by insurers. Employers bringing returnees back onto Indian payrolls must also factor in social-security contributions that were previously paid into Gulf schemes. The coordinated response—dubbed ‘Operation Samudra Setu II’ in some diplomatic circles—shows India leveraging pandemic-era evacuation playbooks. With Ramadan travel peaking and the Hajj season approaching, the government is expected to keep the air-bridge on standby, ready to scale up if the regional security picture deteriorates.
Amid such fluid travel conditions, companies and individuals grappling with last-minute itinerary changes can streamline the paperwork side of the journey through VisaHQ’s online platform. The firm’s India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/) offers real-time visa requirement checks, document concierge services and expert support that can be invaluable when rerouting travellers across multiple jurisdictions at short notice.
According to the MEA, partial reopening of Qatar’s airspace allowed 8–10 extra services to operate on Tuesday, while 85 scheduled flights departed the UAE. Kuwait and Bahrain remain closed, forcing authorities to route passengers via Saudi Arabia or Oman. Indians leaving Iran are being channelled through Armenia and Azerbaijan; those in Israel connect via Egypt and Jordan. The Directorate General of Shipping confirmed that 959 Indian seafarers have been rotated out of the Persian Gulf since late February, with 18 Indian-flagged vessels and 485 crew still in zone but “safe and accounted for”. No congestion has been reported at Indian ports despite the surge in arrivals, thanks to advance berthing plans and automated customs clearance. For companies with staff in the Gulf the figures highlight the urgency of updating traveller tracking systems. Global mobility teams are advised to cross-check employee locations against MEA advisories and ensure health-insurance policies cover war-risk exclusions now being triggered by insurers. Employers bringing returnees back onto Indian payrolls must also factor in social-security contributions that were previously paid into Gulf schemes. The coordinated response—dubbed ‘Operation Samudra Setu II’ in some diplomatic circles—shows India leveraging pandemic-era evacuation playbooks. With Ramadan travel peaking and the Hajj season approaching, the government is expected to keep the air-bridge on standby, ready to scale up if the regional security picture deteriorates.
