Union minister Piyush Goyal welcomes second batch of evacuated Indian fishermen at Chennai Airport | India News
Chennai: Union Minister Piyush Goyal Chennai International Airport welcomed the second batch of Indian fishermen after their successful evacuation from Iran amid the ongoing conflict in the region.Speaking to reporters at the airport on Saturday, Goyal said the evacuation was done as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s directive with a coordinated effort by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Indian missions abroad to shift the stranded fishermen from Iran to Armenia before bringing them back to India.“Our Prime Minister gave instructions to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and they worked hard to take them from Iran to Armenia. From Armenia, we got some good people who supported us to bring them back because they are very poor fishermen. 345 people came in the first batch. Today, 300+ have arrived. The Prime Minister has always taken care of all the people stuck in any crisis. This once again proves how much he cares for our fishermen who were unfortunately caught in the middle of the war in Iran. They were taken out from inside Iran,” Goyal said.He also informed that more than 600 Indian fishermen have been brought back safely from Iran so far with the help of Indian embassies in Iran and Armenia. Returnees primarily include fishermen Tamil NaduGujarat, Kerala and Puducherry.“It is a pleasure to welcome back our brave fishermen who were in the middle of the war in Iran. They were able to return to India with the help of the Embassy of Iran and Embassy of Armenia. In the first flight, 345 people returned, mostly from Tamil Nadu. Today, more than 300 of us have returned to jail. The majority are from Tamil Nadu, many from Gujarat, and some from Kerala and Puducherry. They went to Iran to earn a living, mostly from the southern part of the country. They hail from various districts such as Kanyakumari, Tuticorin, Tirunelveli and Nagapattinam, as well as Pudukkottai, Mayiladuthurai and many other districts along the coastline. Fishermen in Gujarat are mostly from Valsad in Surat region,” he said.Goyal also lauded the concerted diplomatic efforts of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his team, saying they have ensured the safety of Indian citizens since the beginning of the crisis.“From the first day when the war started, the External Affairs Minister, Tamil Nadu’s son of the soil, Jaishankar and his team interacted with the fishermen, ensuring that they were safe. The embassy gathered them in Armenia and we arranged for flights to take them to India. They may be from different parts of India, but what binds them together is the ‘Mahabharata’, the tricolor, our national flag and the love and affection of 1.4 billion Indians who were eagerly waiting for the return of their brothers from the war in Iran,” the Union minister said.A fisherman from Kanyakumari district, Sylvester, who was among the evacuees, expressed relief after returning home, saying the evacuation had brought them security and comfort.“Now we feel safe and happy. Our Modi government has helped us a lot. Without them, we would not have reached here. They have helped us a lot; they have even given us good, decent food,” he told ANI.
