New Delhi [India], June 17 : Israeli Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, said that Tel Aviv is fully coordinated with the Ministry of External Affairs over the evacuation of Indians following the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel.
"We are fully coordinated with MEA, and when it comes to requests for Indians to evacuate, we are starting to organise now through our Ministry of Transport," Azar said. "The diplomats and foreign citizens who want to leave, there are a few options, terrestrial and maritime, and we are coordinating that."
Answering a query, he said Tel Aviv is targeting locations connected to Iran's capabilities while taking efforts to avoid civilian casualties.
"We're only targeting the places that are connected to the regime capabilities, and we are not targeting civilians. We have put in a lot of effort calling on the civilian population in Iran to evacuate from areas that are dangerous. This can take time because we have to continue to degrade their capabilities," Reuven Azar stated.
"We believe that we've been able to hit about 120 launchers out of the 360 that they have. Given the fact that they have already fired about 400 ballistic missiles and even double the number of drones, they still have a stockpile, and we are determined to try to completely degrade it. The question is at what point the Iranians are going to agree to come to the table to accept the terms that are being demanded by the international community," he added.
Azar also spoke on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) project, highlighting that India has made progress on the eastern part of the project by signing a series of agreements with the UAE.
"IMEC is a project that India has begun to implement in the eastern part of it by signing a series of agreements with the UAE, and it remains to be seen what will happen after the region stabilises, in terms of trying to implement the western part. So we are discussing this sometimes in closed doors, sometimes in semi-official dialogues that are happening in different encounters here in Delhi and other places," he said.
"There are a lot of stakeholders who are very interested in that project. Only yesterday, I had a visit from a major international logistics company that came to show interest in this project. They want to be part of it. So the prospects of IMEC are there. They haven't changed, and I think the entire world is looking forward to seeing how this is going to end in order to re-engage in activities," he added.
Meanwhile, MEA said on Tuesday that Indian students in Tehran have been moved out of the city for reasons of safety, through arrangements made by the Embassy.
Other residents who are self-sufficient in terms of transport have also been advised to move out of the city in view of the developing situation.
Separately, some Indians have been facilitated to leave Iran through the border with Armenia.
"The Embassy remains continuously in touch with the community with a view to extending all feasible assistance. Further advisories may be issued given the fluid situation," MEA said in its statement.
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