Operation Ganga: Six flights with 1,377 stranded citizens departed for India in last 24 hours
Mar 02, 2022
New Delhi [India], March 2 : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said that six flights carrying 1,377 Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine have departed for India in the last 24 hours under 'Operation Ganga'.
"Operation Ganga 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," Jaishankar tweeted.
Meanwhile, the government has deployed 'special envoys' to four neighbouring countries bordering Ukraine to coordinate and oversee the evacuation process of Indian nationals. Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri will oversee evacuation efforts in Hungary, Union Minister for Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju in Slovakia, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in Romania while Gen (Retd) V K Singh in Poland.
The Union Government has been ramping up its efforts to evacuate Indians from Ukraine.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting to review the efforts to bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine. The meeting was attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and senior officials.
The Prime Minister had on Monday chaired two meetings to review the ongoing efforts under 'Operation Ganga' for the return of Indians from Ukraine amid military operations by Russia. Another meeting was held on Sunday. The Cabinet Committee on Security had met on February 24 in the wake of Russian military actions in Ukraine.
The union government has launched 'Operation Ganga' to bring back stranded students and Indian citizens from the conflict-torn Ukraine. Special flights are being operated by Air India under 'Operation Ganga'.
