Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990. More than 170,000 Indians were stranded there. Buses took them through Basra and Baghdad to Amman in Jordan. From there, Air India and Indian Airlines flew them to Bombay on 488 flights. Air India entered the Guinness Book of World Records for the most people evacuated by a civil airliner.
Indians based in Kuwait helped organize it. Among them was Mathunny Mathews, called Toyota Sunny. The 2016 film Airlift, starring Akshay Kumar, drew on their work.