New Delhi: As the Indian government on Sunday launched an evacuation plan titled ‘Operation Ganga’ to safely evacuate its citizens, the Foreign Secretary, Harsha V Shringla, said that thousands of Indian citizens have been flown out of the conflict-ridden country.
Addressing a press conference on Sunday, the Foreign Secretary said that around two thousand people are still stuck in Kyiv, and arrangements for their food and transportation were being made.
So far under op Ganga, thousand of our citizens have been flown out of Romani and Hungary and another thousand have been evacuated from Ukraine through land routes. Flights have been organized for them: Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla pic.twitter.com/iNzgMK6Yzd
— ANI (@ANI) February 27, 2022
He further said that the exit point on the Poland-Ukraine border was clogged as lakhs of foreign nationals were trying to escape from there. “Border crossing to Hungary & Romania is functioning, however, the exit point to Poland is clogged due to lakhs of foreign nationals trying to escape from that point. Those who are near the borders of Hungary & Romania are guided towards their border points in phases,” Shringla said.
The Foreign Secretary further informed that he separately talked with Ambassadors of Ukraine and Russia conveyed his concerns regarding the safety of Indians. “I called in both ambassadors of Russia & Ukraine separately, conveyed my concerns on the safety of Indian citizens. I’ve shared the locations where Indian citizens are concentrated. Both ambassadors took note of our concerns & assured us of the safety of Indian citizens,”
Several flights of Air India are being operated to Bucharest and Budapest to bring back Indian nationals. Four flights have already been completed to bring back Indian citizens. Five more flights to Bucharest and two to Budapest have been scheduled for further evacuation.
On Saturday night, the first evacuation flight carrying 219 Indians landed in Mumbai.
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