‘Will not rest until…’: Foreign minister on Ukraine evacuation efforts | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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‘Will not rest until…’: Foreign minister on Ukraine evacuation efforts

By | Edited by Swati Bhasin, New Delhi
Mar 01, 2022 08:35 AM IST

Till now, 8,000 Indian nationals have been evacuated from Ukraine since the initial advisories were issued, the external affairs ministry said on Monday.

Foreign minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday that the government "will not rest" until all the Indians stuck in Ukraine, which is currently facing a full-scale invasion from Russia, "are safe." Jaishankar's assurance comes as the ninth flight - under the Operation Ganga - left Romania's capital Bucharest to return to the country. “We will not rest till our fellow Indians are safe. Ninth #OperationGanga flight departs Bucharest for New Delhi with 218 Indian nationals," Jaishankar tweeted.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar. (PTI file photo)
External affairs minister S Jaishankar. (PTI file photo)

Operation Ganga was launched by the government to bring back Indians, mostly students, stranded in Ukraine. Air India has been operating special flights under the operation. 

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Till now, 8,000 Indian nationals have been evacuated from Ukraine since the initial advisories were issued, the external affairs ministry said on Monday.

Also Read| Ukraine: Satellite photos show vast convoy of Russian forces at north of Kyiv

“Evacuation efforts on...Situation on ground continues to be complex and fluid, some of them quite concerning, but we've been able to accelerate our evacuation process. About 8000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since we issued advisory, not since conflict began,” ministry spokesperson Arindam Baghchi was quoted as saying by news agency ANI on Monday evening. 

Meanwhile, at a rare emergency special session of the UN General Assembly on Ukraine on Monday, India called for an immediate cessation of violence and end to hostilities in the war-ravaged country. "India is deeply concerned that the situation in Ukraine continues to deteriorate. We reiterate our call for immediate cessation of violence and end to hostilities,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti told the emergency session of the UNGA. Tirumurti added that the Indian government firmly believed there was no other choice but to return to the path of diplomacy.

Also Read| India at UN on ‘complex situation at borders’ amid Ukraine evacuation efforts

Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi for political support at the UN, after India abstained from a Security Council vote. "Spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Informed of the course of Ukraine repulsing Russian aggression. More than 100,000 invaders are on our land. They insidiously fire on residential buildings. Urged India to give us political support in the UN Security Council. Stop the aggressor together!" Zelensky tweeted on February 26.

About half a million people have fled the Ukraine war as the Russian onslaught enters the sixth day.

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