"Fear Was Paralysing": Indian Student Recounts Escape From Gulf War Zone

Deepak Gaikwad and seven others, including two families with young children, successfully reached London via Riyadh.

22 Mar 2026, 06:05 · www.ndtv.com

Deepak Gaikwad, an LLM student whose academic career was nearly interrupted by the erupting Iran-USA-Israel conflict, has reached safety in London following a coordinated rescue. As drone activity and missile alerts intensified in Kuwait, Gaikwad and several others found themselves having to find a way to exit the region.

“I saw the sky light up with missiles, and for a moment, the fear was paralysing. The sirens never stopped, and I thought my journey ended there,” Gaikwad said.

A Nagpur-based social organisation known as "The Platform" came to Gaikwad's rescue.

Deepak Gaikwad and seven others, including two families with young children, successfully reached London via Riyadh. The rescued group included Swati and Pranay Wankhede, who travelled with their four-year-old child, and London-based professionals Sharat Pannicker and Anupa Kunjappy, who were stranded with their ten-month-old daughter. The organisation also facilitated the return of an Indian woman stranded in Dubai.

The rescue of these eight individuals involved high-stakes coordination across multiple borders.

From providing meals through the Maharashtra Mandal Kuwait (MMK) to securing ground transport across the Saudi border, the organisation addressed critical logistical gaps.

The mission remains ongoing as reports indicate that over 200 Indian students are still stuck across transit points in Kuwait, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia. Many are travelling on restricted budgets and student visas, lacking the financial means to re-route flights as regional airspace remains volatile.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) recently estimated that nearly 23,000 Indian students in the Gulf have missed crucial board exams due to the instability.

"We saw large-scale efforts during the Ukraine crisis; our citizens in the Gulf deserve the same timely and concrete assistance," Rajiv Khobragade of "The Platform" told NDTV.

The students currently reaching out to "The Platform" face several critical challenges. Most cannot afford the surge in ticket prices, which have reportedly jumped to over Rs 1.2 lakh for safe-route flights. Many are also trapped in transit lounges with expiring visas and no clear path forward. Furthermore, the proximity to strategic targets and airbases has left many in a constant state of high alert.

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