NewsGate Press Network

The government on Tuesday the 15th of March 2022 stated that the evacuation of students from worn-torn Ukraine’s as an “extremely complex” operation, as it involved the prospects of students “getting caught in crossfire” and added that India’s evacuation mission involved a “whole of government approach”.

External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar was making this statement in Rajya Sabha on Russia-Ukraine conflict.

India’s evacuation mission was successfully achieved, the EAM added, due to personal intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Presidents of Russia and Ukraine.

“The Prime Minister spoke to Presidents of Russia and Ukraine on multiple occasions. He took up the issue of safe evacuation of Indians especially from Kharkiv and Sumy.

“The PM spoke to the Prime Ministers of Romania, Slovak Republic, Hungary and President of Poland to seek support for facilitation of entry of Indians to their countries.

“Despite the challenges posed by the serious ongoing conflict, we have ensured that about 22,500 citizens return home safely”, Jaishankar added while giving details of Operation Ganga.

He added that 90 flights were operated, out of which 76 were civilian and 14 were IAF flights.

“The evacuation flights were from Romania, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. While the IAF rose to the occasion, most of the private airlines also participated enthusiastically,” he said.

The External Affairs Minister gave assurance that the mortal remains of Indian student Navin Shekarappa will be brought back to the country.

“At Kharkiv, Naveen Shekarappa, a medical student of Kharkiv Medical University, lost his life. We deeply mourn his untimely demise. Our Embassy in Ukraine is diligently pursuing the repatriation of his mortal remains to India,”he said.