Ramping up diplomatic efforts to evacuate Indian nationals stuck in cities and border points of Ukraine, the government decided to send four Union Ministers to supervise the evacuation, announced plans for more flights to bring back students not just from India but also from neighbouring and developing countries, and send relief supplies to Ukraine as a humanitarian gesture.
This was announced after a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who said the “entire government machinery is working round-the-clock to ensure that all Indian nationals there are safe and secure,” according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Modi also spoke to Prime Minister of Romania Nicolae-Ionel Ciuca and Prime Minister of Slovak Republic Eduard Heger – the two neighbouring countries west of Ukraine, from where India is planning to evacuate its citizens. An important element in the readout of the two phone calls was that Modi “stressed upon the importance of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations” – a language first articulated at the UN Security Council, aimed at Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
Of the estimated 20,000 Indian nationals who were present in Ukraine, the government said about 8,000 have left the country since its first advisory earlier this month. That leaves approximately 12,000 Indians still there, most of them students in medical colleges.
The decision to send four Union Ministers Hardeep Puri, Kiren Rijiju, Jyotiradtiya Scindia and General (retd) V K Singh was taken during the meeting chaired by the Prime Minister. Puri is heading to Hungary, Rijiju to Slovakia, Scindia will look at Romania and Moldova while Singh will oversee the evacuation in Poland. They will visit these countries as Special Envoys of the Indian government.
In all, six evacuation flights have brought back stranded Indian nationals via Bucharest and Budapest, and at least another eight flights are planned to fly to these two airports to bring back more stranded citizens, officials said. In addition, evacuation flights are also being planned for Warsaw in Poland.
In addition to the Air India group airlines, IndiGo and SpiceJet have also announced their flights to Europe. IndiGo dispatched aircraft to Bucharest and Budapest via Istanbul as part of the government’s Operation Ganga mission. The flights from Bucharest and Budapest are expected to land in Delhi at 10.30 am and 10.55 am Tuesday, respectively. Both these flights, operated on 222-seater Airbus A321neo aircraft, are expected to make a refuelling stop at Istanbul.
