Over 17,400 Indians Evacuated From Ukraine Under Op Ganga: Govt
Mumbai: India has brought back over 17,400 citizens from war-torn Ukraine under Operation Ganga so far, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said. Two special civilian flights scheduled from Suceava are expected to bring 400 more Indians back home on March 8, the ministry added. Also Read: Safe Corridor For Our Students In Ukraine’s Sumy Didn’t Materialise: India To UNSC
These special flights are operating from neighbouring countries of Ukraine as Ukrainian airspace has been closed since February 24 following a Russian military march towards the Ukrainian city.
The government informed that, in order to rescue Indian nationals, 1314 Indians have been airlifted today by 7 special civilian flights from neighbouring countries of Ukraine. With this, since the start of special flights on 22 February 2022, more than 17 thousand 4 hundred Indians have been brought back so far. The number of Indians airlifted by 73 special civilian flights has gone up to 15206.
The Indian Air Force C-17 Globemaster, which joined Operation Ganga on March 2, had earlier carried out 10 flights to bring back 2056 passengers as part of Operation Ganga. Civil Aviation Ministry says C1One C-17 IAF flight with 201 Indians is expected to arrive this evening on 7 March 2022.
Today out of the special civil flights, 4 have landed in New Delhi while 2 have reached Mumbai. A flight is expected late in the evening. There were 5 flights from Budapest and one each from Bucharest and Suceava.
Tomorrow on 8th March 2022, Suceava is expected to operate two special civilian flights to bring back more than 400 Indians.
To support and supervise the evacuation from the Ukrainian border, four senior cabinet ministers, designated as ‘special envoys’ to the prime minister, went to Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania to oversee the evacuation mission.
The Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia reached Romania, while Union Minister for Petroleum & Gas Hardeep Singh Puri took command of Hungary. Union Law Minister Kiren Rijeju coordinated the evacuation exercise in Slovakia. Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways and Civil Aviation Retd. Gen. V K Singh took charge in Poland.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called Operation Ganga a successful mission and credited the success of Operation Ganga to India’s growing influence in the global arena.
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and like us on Facebook for the latest updates and interesting stories.
