How India is evacuating its people from war-torn Ukraine
The Modi government has escalated evacuation efforts after Russia intensified its attack on Ukraine, targeting prominent cities with missiles
With the Russia-Ukraine war entering the sixth day, the Narendra Modi government has intensified its evacuation efforts to bring back stranded Indian nationals from the war-hit European nation. From asking Indian Air Force C-17 aircrafts to rushing embassy officials at railway stations in Kyiv, the Indian government is on its toes.
Here's a look at how the Indian government has been carrying out Operation Ganga to ensure safe homecoming of the Indian nationals
> After the Indian embassy in Kyiv asked all the Indian nationals to leave the Ukrainian capital immediately via trains or other means, the embassy officials are present at the railway stations to facilitate hassle-free evacuation. Sources told Hindustan Times that the embassy had ensured the movement of thousands of students from Kyiv to western Ukraine on Sunday.
> The Indian embassies in countries like Poland have been arranging buses for the students to safely reach the border, this after heavy diplomatic lifting between the two countries.
> The Indian Air Force has been asked to deploy C-17 aircraft to boost evacuation efforts. The C-17 aircraft can carry 336 passengers and was used during the evacuation in Afghanistan last year. Besides airlifting the Indian nationals, the IAF aircraft will also be used to carry humanitarian aid to the war-hit country.
> Four union ministers are being sent Ukraine to expedite the evacuation efforts. Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri will be in-charge of evacuation efforts in Hungary, civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia will oversee the mission in Romania and Moldova. Law minister Kiren Rijiju will expedite the trans-border movement from Slovenia while roads and transport minister General VK Singh is in-charge of evacuation from Poland.
>Under Operation Ganga, a total of nine flights have been undertaken to bring back the Indian nationals. external affairs minister S Jaishankar took to Twitter to inform that the ninth flight left Bucharest for New Delhi with 218 Indian nationals on board.
>Private air carrier Spicejet will send a special evacuation flight from New Delhi to Slovakia to bring back the stranded Indians. Union law minister Kiren Rijiju will be travelling in the flight, overseeing the evacuation process, news agency ANI reported. The aircraft will fly directly to Kosice from Delhi and will return via a technical halt at Kutaisi in Georgia.