New Delhi: The government has intensified evacuation of stranded Indians from Ukraine. 26 flights have been scheduled over the next 3 days to bring home Indian nationals from the war-hit country. Briefing the media, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that evacuating Indians from Ukraine’s second-largest eastern city of Kharkiv remains government’s top priority.
He said, around 12 thousand Indian nationals have left Ukraine which is almost 60 percent of Indians staying in the strife-torn nation. Following the closure of Ukrainian airspace, India is evacuating citizens from Ukraine through land border crossings with neighbouring countries such as Romania, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. Four Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri, Kiren Rijiju, Jyotiraditya Scindia, and General VK Singh have been deployed in these countries to speed up the evacuation process.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked Indian Air Force to join Operation Ganga to evacuate Indian nationals from Ukraine. The IAF has pressed into service C-17 aircraft to bring back the stranded Indians from the strife-torn country. A C17 aircraft left for Romania this morning. More IAF flights will be mounted in the coming days.
