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India charts out evacuation plan for stranded nationals

Fourth flight leaves from Bucharest with 198 Indians.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Sunday that Government of India has launched a multi-pronged evacuation plan titled “Operation Ganga” to evacuate Indian citizens stranded in Ukraine, adding that thousands of Indian citizens have been flown out of the conflict-ridden country.

As intense fighting is underway in Kharkiv, Sumy and Kyiv, Shringla held a special briefing on “Operation Ganga” and said, “Under Op Ganga, thousands of our citizens have been flown out of Romania and Hungary and another thousand have been evacuated from Ukraine through the land routes. Thousands of our students crossed over from Ukraine into zones conducive for their evacuation by air route back to India.”

The India government is bearing the cost of evacuation given the emergency situation prevailing.

Sharing the details of Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine, Foreign Secretary Shringla on Sunday said that India is sending more people to embassies to facilitate the evacuation process. India is also in touch with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva. “The Permanent Representative in Geneva has spoken to the president of the ICRC.” ICRC is commencing its operations in Ukraine and India has told them that they should be cognizant of the needs of Indian citizens and wherever possible escort them out, Shringla said in a press conference. “We have also shared with the ICRC the location of the main areas where our communities are centred,” he added.

He explained the overall plan of evacuation with the help of a map and said that 2,000 Indian citizens are in Kyiv, the numbers are larger but many of them have begun to move westward. “We have established centres along the path while moving to the border points so requesting the students to follow the advice,” Shringla said.

India is also sending more people to embassies to facilitate the evacuation process. The Foreign Secretary also shared that people should stay in shelters in conflict areas like Sumy, Kharkiv and Odessa, he added.

He stressed that two flights would be leaving on Sunday night and on Monday and a range of flights have already been scheduled.

“With the cooperation of the Ministry of Civil Aviation we have arranged aircraft for the evacuation,” he added.

Earlier on Sunday, the Indian embassy in Kyiv advised the Indian diaspora to move away from conflict zones to the western region subject to the security situation and the extant regulations. Taking to Twitter, the embassy tweeted that “Ukraine Railways is additionally organising emergency trains at no cost, first come basis from Kyiv. Schedule can be found at train stations. Indian diaspora is advised to move away from conflict zones to the Western region subject to security situation and the extant regulations.”

The Embassy released a second advisory on Sunday for all Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine and advised them not to venture out as intense fighting in Kharkiv, Sumy and Kyiv continues.

“Based on latest input, intense fighting is underway in Kharkiv, Sumy and Kyiv. It is reiterated, Indian Nationals in these cities, and other cities wherever curfew has been applied, are NOT advised to venture towards railway stations until curfew has been lifted and considerable civilian movement is renewed,” the advisory read.

Also on Sunday, the Polish embassy in New Delhi said that Poland was allowing entry of all Indian nationals from conflict-ridden Ukraine without visas. Ambassador of Poland to India, Adam Burakowski tweeted, “Poland is allowing to enter without any visa all Indian students who escape from Russian aggression in Ukraine.”

External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar spoke with his Hungarian and Moldovian counterparts and discussed cooperation for the evacuation of Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine. The EAM thanked the Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto for aiding the evacuation of Indian nationals from Ukraine and requested further cooperation.

Talking to Twitter, the EAM said, “Called up Hungarian FM Peter Szijjarto. Thankful for the evacuation support provided so far. Requested further cooperation on the Hungary-Ukraine border.” The EAM also spoke with the Foreign Minister of Moldova, Nicu Popescu. “Called Foreign Minister @nicupopescu of Moldova seeking support for facilitating the entry of our nationals on the Ukraine-Moldova border. Appreciate his ready response and strong support. #TeamMEA representatives will accordingly reach there tomorrow,” the EAM said in a separate tweet.

The EAM added that a fourth flight has left Bucharest (Romania) for Delhi to bring back 198 stranded Indians from Ukraine safely under operation Ganga. “Operation Ganga continues. The fourth flight has left to bring our 198 Indians from Bucharest to Delhi safely,” he said in a tweet. Earlier he had tweeted, “The third flight of #OperationGanga with 240 Indian nationals has taken off from Budapest for Delhi,” he said tweeted.

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