New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked the Indian Air Force to assist in the evacuation process of Indians, from war-torn Ukraine, sources told NDTV.
“Leveraging the capacities of our Air Force will ensure that more people can be evacuated in a shorter time frame. It will also help deliver humanitarian aid more efficiently,” sources said, NDTV reported.
As a part of the Operation Ganga, the Indian Air Force is expected to deploy several C-17 aircrafts.
Today a flight carrying 182 Indians landed in Mumbai. The flight flew out of Romanian capital Bucharest, as Ukraine has closed its airspace.
Two more evacuation flights are expected to bring back stranded Indians today – one from Bucharest and one from Hungary’s capital Budapest.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken with his counterparts in Romania and the Slovak Republic – Ukraine’s neighboring countries from where India is planning to evacuate its citizens.
On Monday, the government gave an estimate of 20,000 Indian nationals who were present in Ukraine about 8,000 have left the country since its first advisory earlier this month.
In its latest advisory, India has urged the stranded Indian nationals to leave Ukraine’s capital Kyiv urgently today, by trains or any other means available.
The latest advisory from the Indian Embassy in Ukraine urgingly said, “All Indian nationals including students are advised to leave Kyiv urgently today. Preferably by available trains or through any other means available.”
Yesterday the Embassy had asked the students to go to the railway station in Kyiv to board the special evacuation trains. Few special evacuation trains were arranged by Ukraine to take people to the western region.
The advisory appealed to people to remain calm and united. “We sincerely request all Indian nationals/students to remain calm, peaceful, and united. A large crowd can be expected at the railway stations, therefore, it is advised that all Indian students remain patient, composed, and especially not to exhibit aggressive behavior while at the railway station,” the advisory said.
The students were asked to carry their passports, cash, and good and proper clothing. The advisory had also alerted them of delays or cancellation of trains or they might have to face long queues at the station.
Indian students were moved to neighboring countries like Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic sharing a border with Ukraine, before being brought back to India, under operation Ganga.
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