NewsGate Press Network

By Vineet Dikshit

India has formally given details of locations of stranded Indians in war zone to envoys of Russia and Ukraine posted in the Indian capital New Delhi while establishing four Operation Ganga control room centers in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovak Republic. They are:

Giving this information during a media briefing on Sunday the 27th February 2022, foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said both envoys were called to meet him impromptu on Sunday and were asked to co-ordinate safe passage to stranded Indian nationals in Ukraine while extending full protection from the on-going hostilities.

The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi later said that a dedicated Twitter handle has been set up to assist in the evacuation of Indians from Ukraine under Operation Ganga @opganga.

Since the conflict began four days back, India has evacuated around 2,000 through various border transit points to the neighbouring countries, Foreign Secretary H V Shringla added.

The foreign secretary said though the border crossings to Hungary and Romania are functioning, the exit point to Poland has been clogged with lakhs of Ukrainians and foreign nationals trying to leave the strife-torn through it.

“This is a problem area,” he said.

Shringla said that Indians who are near the borders with Hungary Romania and Slovakia are being guided towards the respective border points in phases.

“We are aware of a number of Indian citizens, particularly students, who continue to be in cities in the east and south-east of Ukraine. Unfortunately, these areas are live conflict areas and it is generally deemed unsafe for people to move around freely. We will try to find suitable evacuation modalities for them,” Shringla said.

The foreign secretary said that around a thousand Indians have already been flown out of Romania and Hungary and another 1,000 have been evacuated from Ukraine through the land routes.

Around 2,000 Indian citizens were in Kyiv and many of them have begun to move to the western part of the country.

the Indian embassy in Ukraine suggested that those who are located in the eastern areas including Kyiv should start moving westwards to avoid the areas of increasing conflict and that they should come near the border points.

“We have also contacted the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva. Our Permanent Representative in Geneva has spoken to the President of the ICRC,” the foreign secretary said.

“The ICRC is commencing its operation in Ukraine. We have told them to please make sure that as and when they start their operation, they should be cognisant of the needs of our citizens and wherever possible escort them out,” he added.