NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MARCH 2
Three more Indian Air Force aircraft are scheduled to fly to Poland, Hungary and Romania on Wednesday to ramp up the Centre’s efforts to evacuate Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine, informed IAF officials.
The Indian Air Force aircraft are carrying tents, blankets and other humanitarian aid and are to take off from Hindon airbase shortly.
Notably, one C-17 Globemaster took off at 4 am earlier today for Romania under ‘Operation Ganga’.
This comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on Tuesday to review the efforts to bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine and asked the Indian Air Force to join the evacuation efforts under ‘Operation Ganga’.
The 24×7 control centres have been set up to assist in the evacuation of Indian nationals through the border crossing points with Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia. A new route has been opened through Moldova and an MEA team is also now in place there and is operational. The team will assist in the evacuation of Indians through Romania.
A dedicated Twitter Account (@opganga) has been set up to assist Operation Ganga. The Indian Embassy in Kyiv has advised Indian citizens against moving to any of the border checkpoints without prior coordination with government officials at border posts.
In a bid to energize the evacuation efforts, the Government of India appointed four special envoys who will oversee evacuation operations of stranded Indians in Ukraine’s neighbouring countries. Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri will oversee evacuation efforts in Hungary, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju in Slovakia, Gen (retd) VK Singh in Poland while Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia will be going to Romania and will also go to Moldova.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has held several meetings so far to review the ongoing efforts under Operation Ganga to bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine.
He has also said that India will help people from neighbouring countries and developing countries who are stranded in Ukraine and may seek assistance.
The sources said that leveraging the capacities of the Air Force will ensure that more people can be evacuated in a shorter time frame and it will also help to deliver humanitarian aid more efficiently.
After Russia’s forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, the Government of India launched ‘Operation Ganga’ to bring back stranded Indian nationals from the conflict-torn Ukraine.
As part of the ‘Operation Ganga’ mission, special flights are being operated to facilitate returns of the stranded Indians free of cost.
The first such evacuation flight carrying 219 Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine landed in Mumbai on February 26.
Several such flights have landed in the country so far.
#OperationGanga developments.
Six flights have now departed for India in the last 24 hours. Includes the first flights from Poland.
Carried back 1377 more Indian nationals from Ukraine.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (Modi Ka Parivar) (@DrSJaishankar) March 2, 2022
Six flights under India’s evacuation mission ‘Operation Ganga’ have departed for India in the last 24 hours, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday.
India launched the evacuation mission under which the Indians from Hungary, Romania, Poland and Slovakia are being brought back home after they exited Ukraine through its land border crossings.
Jaishankar said the flights that departed for India in the last 24 hours included the first one from Poland.
In the last few days, Indian evacuation flights were operating from Romanian capital Bucharest and Hungarian capital Budapest.
“#OperationGanga developments. Six flights have now departed for India in the last 24 hours. Includes the first flights from Poland. Carried back 1,377 more Indian nationals from Ukraine,” Jaishankar tweeted this morning.
IJU urges Prime Minister to evacuate all Indians from Ukraine forthwith
The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji to take all possible steps forthwith to safely evacuate all Indians caught in the war torn country of Ukraine.
According to a statement issued by IJU President BR Prajapati and Secretary General G Prabhakaran, the premier orgaisation of media persons in the country, is greatly shocked and deeply pained at the killing of an MBBS student from Haveri in Karnataka in a bomb blast in Kharkiv in Ukraine on March 1, 2022 morning.
According to students there, Naveen Shekharappa G, a fourth year student at the Kharkiv National Medical University was living in the bunker below his flat. Naveen had gone out to buy food when the blast occurred in the city centre.
“One of his friends received a call from his mobile. At the other end was an Ukranian national who said there has been a blast and he has been to the morgue in an ambulance. The students are now inconsolable,” said a student coordinator at the university.
Naveen was living in a flat in the city centre along with his friends. He is learnt to be from Chalagere in Haveri district. The tragic news has created panic among Indian students in Kharkiv who have now been asked to remain in the bunkers and not venture out. His friends said they have been seeking help from the Indian embassy on safe evacuation but have not received any response.
The IJU sends its heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family of the deceased student Naveen Shekharappa of Chalagere village of Haveri district of Karnataka.
