4,800 Indian Students To Be Evacuated From Romania By Friday: Scindia

Mumbai: Around 4,800 Indian students will be evacuated from Bucharest and Suceava in Romania through 24 flights between Wednesday and Friday amid the Russia-Ukraine war, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, said.

The minister, who went to Bucharest to evacuate Indian students, said he would visit the border check post with Ukraine in Sirate on Thursday and stay there for about 48 hours. Also Read: Ukraine-Russia Crisis: Russian Forces Seize Control Of Kherson City

“I will be there till the last student leaves from the Siret,” he stated.

India is evacuating its citizens from Ukraine’s western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland through special flights as Ukrainian airspace has been closed since February 24 due to Russian military strikes. Also Read: Nearly 17,000 Indians Have Left Ukraine Borders So Far: Govt

“There are about 3,000 Indian students in Bucharest and 1,000 in Sirte,” Scindia said in a virtual press conference.

He said that about one thousand more students are expected to come from the Seerat checkpoint.

He said the government hopes to send them back to India safely within the next three days.

He said six flights – two of which belong to the Indian Air Force – departed from Bucharest on Wednesday with around 1,300 students.

He said six flights carrying 1,300 students would leave from Bucharest on Thursday.

He said that it takes around six to seven hours to cover the distance from Border Check Point Sirte to Bucharest and hence, it has been decided that some flights will operate from Suseva, which is very close to Sirte.

“Therefore, to reduce the hardship and travel time of the students, we are taking them directly to Suseva to pick them up,” the minister mentioned.

He said that two flights will leave from Suseva on Thursday carrying 450 students.

On Friday, six flights carrying 1,300 students would leave from Bucharest and four from Suseva carrying 890 students, he said.

“So between Wednesday and Friday, a total of 3,500 students will be evacuated from Bucharest and 1,300 from Suseva,” Scindia said.

He said he met 200-300 students at the airport on Tuesday night. He said that the students had to go through enormous trials and tribulations.

“The situation they have gone through is difficult to explain. They have come out of war-like situations,” he said.

He added that two call centres are being set up in Bucharest and Cyrate so that there can be better coordination for evacuation.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Tuesday that around 8,000 Indians, mainly students, are stranded in Ukraine.

Four Union ministers have gone to Ukraine’s western neighbours, to rescue the stranded Indians.

Hardeep Singh Puri in Hungary, Jyotiraditya Scindia in Romania, Kiren Rijiju in Slovakia and VK Singh in Poland to oversee the evacuation process.

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and like us on Facebook for the latest updates and interesting stories.