India will send humanitarian aid, including medicines, to Ukraine, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Monday.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Bagchi said that six flights have already brought back nearly 1,400 Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine. Four of these flights arrived from Bucharest and two from Budapest as part of ‘Operation Ganga’.
“Evacuation efforts on…Situation on the ground continues to be complex and fluid, some of them quite concerning, but we have been able to accelerate our evacuation process,” the MEA spokesperson said.
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He added that about 8,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the Indian Embassy in Kyiv first issued an advisory.
Three more flights are scheduled in the next 24 hours to bring back more Indians, the MEA spokesperson said. He added, “Flights are not the constraint, main focus is to ensure Indians cross the border and reach a safe place.”
Arindam Bagchi also said that a decision has been made to deploy special envoys to the four countries bordering Ukraine. Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia will travel to Ukraine, Kiren Rijiju to Slovak Republic, Hardeep Singh Puri to Hungary and Gen. VK Singh to Poland.
24×7 Control Centres set up to assist in the evacuation of Indian nationals through the border crossing points with Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovak Republichttps://t.co/uMI1Wu5Jwd#OperationGanga pic.twitter.com/UXF1NVBFcr
— OpGanga Helpline (@opganga) February 27, 2022
The ministers will coordinate and oversee the evacuation of Indian nationals, including students, stranded in Ukraine.
During the press briefing on Monday, the MEA spokesperson also told reporters that the Indian embassies in Kyiv, Bucharest, Budapest and Warsaw are managing buses to facilitate the evacuation.
“We are advising students to reach western Ukraine, but don’t go there directly, otherwise, they will face long queues and crowds,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
He said that it is better for Indian students stranded in Ukraine to stay in nearby cities and take shelter there, adding that they must move towards the border only after consultation with the respective embassy.