India successfully evacuates nearly 18000 Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine to safe zone
Operation Ganga: 7000 already back home; another 7400 to be back by tomorrow in Special flights
True to its commitment to leave no citizens behind, India has successfully brought nearly 18000 of an estimated 20000 Indian nationals (i.e 9 out of every 10) stranded in Ukraine into the safe zone since hostilities began. While some of these persons are in safe areas in countries neighboring Ukraine, outside the war strife area, a large number of Indians have been evacuated and brought back to India as part of the Government of India’s Operation Ganga. In a span of six days, 30 flights under Operation Ganga have brought 6400 Indian citizens back home, and more than 7400 persons1 are expected to be brought through special flights in the next two days. Special aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) have also been engaged for expeditious evacuation of stranded citizens with 1428 Indians already flown back in the C-17 military transport aircraft in seven flights. The effort to repatriate all Indians from Ukraine has been made possible through a swift and determined multi-pronged approach where the entire Government machinery sprang into action, working round the clock. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chaired seven high-level meetings in a week’s time to further energize the ongoing efforts under Operation Ganga. On Feb 24, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on the telephone with His Excellency Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, which was followed by a call to His Excellency President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine where the PM conveyed India’s deep concern for the safety and security of Indian citizens, including students, present in Ukraine. Relentlessly efforts are being made by the Government of India to ensure that the safety and security of the rest of the Indians still stuck in the war zone and also to evacuate them at the earliest. Committed to the motto – India Leaves No Citizen Behind – the government shall leave no stone unturned till the last Indian is safely back home. From ensuring consistent and timely communication through advisories to ensuring the comfort of citizens waiting in neighboring countries (Romania, Poland, Hungary & the Slovak Republic) for their evacuation, and mounting a massive rescue operation to bring Indian nationals back home, the Government’s relentless efforts have clearly highlighted the immense priority it accords to the safety of its citizens, anywhere in the world. The Indian embassy had been in contact with Indian students in Ukraine long before the war began. The first advisory to Indian citizens in Ukraine, urging precaution, was issued on 15 February as the first signs of conflict became evident. Further Tweets and advisories were issued at regular intervals, to reassure Indian citizens in Ukraine and keep them abreast of the Government’s evacuation efforts amidst the deteriorating situation. Evacuation efforts under Operation Ganga began on February 26, when the first special civilian flight of Air India touched down at Mumbai, bringing 219 people back to the motherland. With the Ukrainian airspace being closed to civilian flights, India has been operating special flights from countries like Romania and Hungary. The Government of India has been closely coordinating with the Government of countries like Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary, with 24×7 Control Centres being set up to assist in the evacuation of Indian nationals through the border crossing points in these nations. Four Union Ministers (Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and Gen (Retd) VK Singh) have gone to countries adjoining Ukraine as Special Envoys to support and supervise these operations. India has also been in touch with authorities in Ukraine and Russia as part of continued evacuation efforts. The help and cooperation received from these countries is a testament to India’s sustained diplomatic efforts in the past. Even amidst tireless efforts to bring back its own citizens, India ensured that relief material was rushed into Ukraine to provide some succor in the humanitarian crisis. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) sent relief material for the people of Ukraine, including blankets, sleeping mats, solar study lamps, etc. As students return home, and some await their safe evacuation in coming days, the Government of India and the state governments – through officials and Ministers have been reaching out to thousands of families of the stranded students to stand by them and extend support at this critical time. The scale and swiftness of India’s evacuation efforts stand in stark contrast to those of most other countries, many of whose citizens continue to await evacuation in the conflict region and with some countries leaving their citizens to fight it out on their own.
GOVERNMENT ACTION BEFORE MILITARY OP BY RUSSIA IN UKRAINE BEGAN
India was among one of the first countries to issue timely advisories for the Indians in Ukraine. On February 15, 2022, amid the Russian invasion threat, the Embassy of India in Kyiv anticipated the upcoming danger for Indian citizens residing in Ukraine. It released an advisory stating that Indian nationals in Ukraine, particularly students whose stay is not essential, may consider leaving temporarily.
● While constantly monitoring and analysing the situation tactfully, the Embassy of India in Kyiv issued another advisory on 20 February urging the Indian citizens to leave Ukraine.
● The evacuation efforts were strengthened by the Ministry of Civil Aviation by removing restrictions on the number of flights between Ukraine and India under the air bubble management on 17 February 2022. Later, three flights were scheduled from 22 February onwards to bring back Indians, which is where the evacuation drive was envisioned to commence before the invasion was declared by Russia.
● The Government also started talks with aviation authorities and several airlines to increase the number of India-Ukraine flights.
● On February 24, 2022, due to the closing of Ukrainian airspace, the Indian Embassy in Ukraine’s Kyiv issued a new advisory for Indian nationals, including students, stating that alternative arrangements are being made for the evacuation of Indian nationals. The advisory also mentioned helpline numbers.
INDIA AMID RUSSIA’S DECLARATION OF ‘SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION
● With the declaration of ‘Special Military Operation’ by Russia in Ukraine on 24 February, India was facing the defiance of safeguarding its estimated 20,000 citizens in Ukraine. ● India was successful in operating its first evacuation via a special Boeing-787 flight before the invasion, bringing back the first batch of around 242 Indians from Ukraine.
GOVERNMENT IN ACTION
● As the situation deteriorated in Ukraine on the day of the invasion, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi spoke on the telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24. The PM reiterated that differences can only be resolved through honest and sincere dialogue and appealed for an immediate cessation of violence. He sensitized India’s concerns regarding Indian citizens’ safety in Ukraine.
● In the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting held on the day of the invasion, PM Narendra Modi said that the safety and security of Indian nationals in Ukraine is the topmost priority of the government.
● The Ministry of External Affairs set up a 24×7 Control Room to offer assistance to stranded Indians. The Ministry held a series of high-level meetings to put into operation certain contingency plans in view of the rapidly changing situation in Ukraine. The Indian Embassy in Ukraine reassured the citizens stranded in Ukraine that evacuation plans were being worked out.
OPERATION GANGA
• In a bid to further scale up the evacuation process, the Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched the massive rescue operation called ‘Operation Ganga’ to bring back stranded Indians from Ukraine.
• The evacuation process has brought back over 6400 persons so far through a total of nearly 30 civilian flights. The number of flights has been further increased to bring more Indians back. These flights belong to the fleet of Air India Express, Indigo, Spicejet and Go First.
• Government of India will bear the complete cost of the evacuation process from Ukraine.
• With the scaling up of the number of civilian flights, more than 7400 persons are expected to be brought to India through these special flights within two days. 3500 persons are expected to be brought back on 4th March through nearly 17 flights which have already been scheduled and over 3900 shall be back on 5th March
Control Centres to assist in Operation Ganga 24×7 Control Centres were set up to assist in the evacuation of Indian nationals through the border crossing points with Poland, Romania, Hungary and the Slovak Republic. A dedicated Twitter Account “OpGanga Helpline” was set up to assist Operation Ganga – @opganga. In addition, the Control Room in the Ministry of External Affairs continued to function on a 24×7 basis.
IAF JOINS ‘OPERATION GANGA’
In order to speed up the ongoing evacuation efforts under ‘Operation Ganga’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked the Indian Air Force (IAF) to join the evacuation efforts. The Indian Air Force’s four evacuation flights were conducted using C-17 military transport aircraft carrying 798 Indians from the Romanian capital Bucharest, Hungary’s Budapest and Polish city Rzeszow landed at Hindon airbase in Delhi between midnight of March 02 and early hours of March 03. Another three IAF flight C-17 have arrived on Mar 04 evacuating 630 passengers, thereby taking the total of passengers evacuated by the IAF to 1428 through seven flights. HUMANITARIAN AID UNDER OPERATION GANGA The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has also joined the operation and provided relief materials including blankets, sleeping mats, solar study lamps, etc. for Ukraine. The relief material was sent through two consignments- one through a flight that left for Poland on March 2nd morning, and another on an IAF flight that left for Romania on the same day in the afternoon. A total of four tranches of assistance has been sent to date.
PM MODI DEPUTES ‘SPECIAL ENVOYS’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sent four union ministers to neighbouring countries of Ukraine to coordinate evacuations of stranded Indians amid Russian military operations in Ukraine. Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and Gen (Retd) VK Singh have travelled to neighbouring countries of Ukraine to coordinate the evacuation mission and help students. Diplomatic Outreach
● With the situation on the ground growing difficult, the Government initiated its diplomatic outreach effort to bring back Indian nationals.
● In this regard, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi spoke to H.E. Andrzej Duda, President of Poland5, H.E. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic6 and H.E. Charles Michel, President of the European Council7.
● MEA called Ambassadors of Russia & Ukraine separately and conveyed deep concerns on the safety & security of Indian citizens. While briefing the media, Mr Shringla said, the envoys took note of the concerns and assured him that they are very cognizant of the safety and security of the Indian citizens.
● With the Ukrainian airspace being closed to civilian flights, MEA identified land evacuation options from Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Romania.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare revised International Travel advisory; provided various exemptions for Indians being evacuated from Ukraine Mandatory pre-boarding negative RT-PCR test and Vaccination certificate exempted for Indian Nationals; Uploading documents before departure on Air-Suvidha Portal exempted. In case a traveler is not able to submit a pre-arrival RT PCR test or who has not completed their Covid-19 vaccination, they have been allowed to submit their samples on arrival with the advice to continue to self-monitor their health for 14 days after arrival in India.9
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS ASSURE SUPPORT TO FAMILIES OF STUDENTS
Various State officials visit families of students stranded in Ukraine to assure support in bringing back their children from war-torn Ukraine. The officials also visited the houses of students recently brought back by the efforts of the massive rescue operation ‘Operation Ganga’.
Indian Railways deploys a help desk Any student who wants a train reservation to their respective native place can do so at the airport itself: MoS Railways, Raosaheb Patil Danve in Mumbai. Another Advisory for Indian Nationals/Students in Ukraine Ministry of Defence issued a special advisory on March 03, 2022, covering important points including potentially dangerous/difficult situations to be expected, Ground Rules/Do’s, Survival Guidelines, and Don’ts in a warlike situation.
PM MEETS RESCUED STUDENTS
Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with students, who returned from Ukraine under Operation Ganga at Varanasi on March 03, 2022.
● On March 03, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated at a virtual summit of Quad leaders, along with US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Developments in Ukraine were discussed in the meeting, including its humanitarian implications. The Prime Minister emphasised the need to return to a path of dialogue and diplomacy. Prime Minister reiterated the importance of adhering to the UN Charter, international law and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
