New Delhi. The Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that 18,000 Indians have left the war-torn Ukraine border since the first advisory was issued, and in compliance with the advisory issued on Wednesday, an estimated 1,000 Indian students have left Kharkiv. Pesochin has arrived. The ministry said that the speed of the operation to bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine is steadily increasing and 18 flights have been scheduled for the next 24 hours to bring back the Indians.
“We are closely monitoring developments in Kharkiv, Sumy and other cities in eastern Ukraine,” foreign ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi told reporters.
He said the government estimates that despite consultations, more than a few hundred Indians are still in Kharkiv. The spokesperson said that in compliance with the advisory issued by the Indian Embassy in Ukraine on Wednesday, a large number of Indian students left Kharkiv and were in nearby Pesochin, with an estimated number of 1,000.
“Work is underway to move the Indians who arrived in Pesochin after leaving Kharkiv, to the western part of Ukraine,” he said. The spokesperson said that 18 flights have been scheduled for the next 24 hours to bring back the Indians. This includes seven flights from Bucharest, five from Budapest, three from Riselo in Poland, one from Kositce in Slovakia and two from Suchiana, Romania. Bagchi said Indian officials are in touch with Ukrainian and Russian authorities to evacuate Indians from Kharkiv and Sumy in Ukraine.
A total of 18,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since our first advisory was released. 30 flights under Operation Ganga have brought back 6,400 Indians from Ukraine so far. In the next 24 hours, 18 flights have been scheduled: MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi pic.twitter.com/I2LC8jhBWS
— ANI (@ANI) March 3, 2022
He said, “There is a war situation and the situation is changing rapidly. The whole government machinery is working day and night. “India has launched ‘Operation Ganga’ campaign to bring back its citizens stranded in Ukraine. Under this, Indians are being brought home by air from Hungary, Romania, Poland and Slovakia after being evacuated from Ukraine through land border posts.
The Indian Embassy in Ukraine on Wednesday asked all its citizens, including students, to leave Kharkiv immediately, keeping in mind their own safety and security. The embassy had said that Indian nationals should leave Kharkiv at the earliest to reach Pesochin, Babaye and Bezlyudovka, which are within a radius of about 16 km.
The Indian Embassy had asked Indians to reach these places under any circumstances by 6 pm (1800) as per Ukrainian time today. At the same time, Foreign Ministry spokesman Bagchi said that 18,000 Indians have left the border of war-torn Ukraine since the first advisory was issued. He said that 15 flights have landed in India in the last 24 hours under the Operation Ganga campaign being run to bring back Indians from Ukraine and more than 3,000 Indians were brought back. He told that till now a total of 30 flights have come to India.
Responding to a question on the evacuation of Indians, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs said, “We are in touch with all concerned, including Russia and Ukraine, regarding the safe evacuation.” He said that on this issue, we are maintaining contact at various levels, including at the Prime Minister, External Affairs Minister and other levels. Responding to a question about bringing the body of Naveen, an Indian student killed in the shelling in Ukraine, he said the Foreign Secretary had spoken to the Ukrainian Foreign Minister last night in which the issue was raised among other subjects and he Said trying.
We are scheduling more flights and a large number of Indians will be back home in the next 2-3 days. I would like to appreciate the Ukrainian government and the neighboring countries for hosting our people and providing support in evacuating them: MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi pic.twitter.com/oS53oVsDrb
— ANI (@ANI) March 3, 2022
The spokesman said that as you know, there is a war situation, the bombing is going on, in such a difficult situation we are trying to bring his body and hand it over to the family. At the same time, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Thursday that more than 7,400 Indians are expected to be brought back from Ukraine’s neighboring countries by special flights in the next two days.
Air India Express, Air India, SpiceJet, Indigo, Vistara and GoFirst flights are expected to operate for this purpose, the ministry said in a statement. It said 3,500 people are expected to be brought back to India on Friday and over 3,900 on Saturday.
The ministry said that since February 22, India has brought in 6,998 people by special flights, including civilians brought by Indian Air Force aircraft. Four Union ministers have gone to Ukraine’s western neighbor for the evacuation of Indian nationals. Hardeep Singh Puri in Hungary, Jyotiraditya Scindia in Romania, Kiren Rijiju in Slovakia and VK Singh in Poland. (agency)