
The Indian government on Friday stated that under its 'Operation Ganga' evacuation plan, about 10,800 Indians have been brought back by special flights from Ukraine's neighbouring countries amid escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia since the latter waged war a week back.
Last Thursday, Russia had launched a military operation on Ukraine. Gauging the situation, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had initiated 'Operation Ganga' to facilitate the return of Indian nationals, including students, stranded there.
The government also added that 17 special flights have come back to the country today from Ukraine's neighbouring countries, including 14 civilian flights and 3 C-17 IAF flights. One more civilian flight is expected to arrive later in the day, it added.
The government also said that while civilian flights carried 3,142 Indian nationals, C-17 flights evacuated 630 passengers on Friday.
So far, over 9,364 Indians have been evacuated by 43 special civilian flights. Seven flights of C-17 have so far evacuated 1428 passengers and taken 9.7 tonnes of relief material.
Friday's civilian flights included 4 from Bucharest, 2 from Kosice, 4 from Budapest, 3 from Rzeszow and 2 from Suceava, while IAF flew 2 flights from Bucharest and 1 from Budapest.
"Tomorrow, 11 special civilian flights are expected to bring back more than 2200 Indians, with 10 landing in New Delhi and one in Mumbai," noted the government in an official statement. It further added that five flights will originate from Budapest, 2 from Rzeszow and 4 from Suceava.
"Four C-17 aircraft are airborne for Romania, Poland and Slovakia, which are expected to reach late at night and early morning tomorrow," explained the government.
Meanwhile, IndiGo on Friday stated that it will operate 51 per cent of the reparation flights to bring back the stranded Indian nationals by March 6, 2021. IndiGo has conveyed that in order to support the government's efforts, it is operating the largest number of flights from February 28 to March 6.
Also read: Operation Ganga: IndiGo to operate 51% of repatriation flights amid Ukraine crisis
Also read: Ukraine crisis: India abstains to vote in UN Human Rights Council
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