India has mounted a massive rescue operation named ‘Operation Ganga’ to bring back Indian citizens stranded in Ukraine.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in close coordination with the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), is making all efforts to bring the Indian students back to India at a fast pace.
Also read: Operation Ganga: 7th Evacuation Flight from Ukraine Lands in Mumbai
Indian airlines are putting their resources in faster evacuation process. Four Union Ministers – Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and Gen (Retd) V.K. Singh have gone to countries adjoining Ukraine to support and supervise these operations. Indian civilian planes as well as Indian Air Force (IAF) planes are regularly bringing back stranded Indian students, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.
Three more @IAF_MCC C-17 aircraft returned to Hindan airbase late last night and early morning today carrying #Ukraine conflict-affected 630 Indian nationals, using airfields in Romania and Hungary. pic.twitter.com/24uDBGc3NI
— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 4, 2022
“The evacuation process, which began on 22nd February, has brought back over 6,200 persons so far, including 2,185 persons coming today through 10 special civilian flights. Today’s flights included 5 from Bucharest, 2 from Budapest, 1 from Kosice, and 2 from Rzeszow by Civilian airlines,” the ministry said on March 3.
“In addition, 3 IAF flights are bringing more Indians today between 11 pm on March 3 and early morning of March 4. Four IAF flights have already brought 798 Indian nationals between midnight of March 2 and early morning of March 3. The number of civilian flights is be scaled up further, and more than 7,400 persons are expected to be brought through special flights in next two days. 3500 persons are expected to be brought back tomorrow and over 3,900 on 5th March,” it added.
#Day4 Five Flights left from #Budapest today, with the numbers of students having been evacuated in #Hungary in thousands! Thanks to @HardeepSPuri minister and all the supporters in Hungary to make this successful. We are Proud! @IAF_MCC @airindiain @TCS_Europe @SMR @BshBudapest pic.twitter.com/di1wFIMTOZ
— Indian Embassy in Hungary (@IndiaInHungary) March 4, 2022
📢#OperationGanga update👇
🛫So far, 9 flights including IAF aircrafts, have taken off today from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland.
🛫6 more flights expected to depart shortly.
Altogether, the above flights will bring back more than 3000 Indian nationals.🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/Dq9oguP8Nc
— Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (@MIB_India) March 4, 2022
Heartwarming & Reassuring !!#OperationGanga pic.twitter.com/OrEaoWJHZm
— Arvind Dharmapuri (@Arvindharmapuri) March 4, 2022
