By PTI
NEW DELHI: India on Monday decided to send relief supplies to Ukraine to deal with the humanitarian situation along its bordering areas arising out of tens of thousands of people attempting to flee the Russian invasion.
After a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that reviewed the efforts to bring back Indians from Ukraine, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the relief supplies will be sent on Tuesday.
“The prime minister noted that the first consignment of relief supplies to Ukraine to deal with the humanitarian situation on Ukraine’s borders would be despatched tomorrow,” the MEA said in a statement.
It said the prime minister also stated that India will help people from neighbouring as well as developing countries who are stranded in Ukraine and may seek assistance.
India’s announcement on sending the first consignment of relief materials came hours after the Ukrainian ambassador to India, Igor Polikha, sought humanitarian assistance from India.
India also decided to send four senior ministers as the prime minister’s special envoys to Ukraine’s neighbouring countries to oversee the evacuation of Indians.
“The prime minister said that the entire government machinery is working round the clock to ensure that all Indian nationals there are safe and secure,” the MEA said.
It said Modi pointed out that the visit of the four senior ministers as his special envoys to various nations will “energise the evacuation efforts” and that it is reflective of the priority the government attaches to it.
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said Union minister Hardeep Puri will go to Hungary, Jyotiraditya Scindia will oversee the evacuation process in Romania and Moldova, Kiren Rijiju will travel to Slovakia and General (retd) V K Singh is leaving for Poland.
Air India’s two evacuation flights came from Romanian capital Bucharest and Hungarian capital Budapest to Delhi on Monday with 489 Indian nationals who were stranded in Ukraine after the Russian military offensive, officials said.
Other private carriers such as SpiceJet, IndiGo and Air India Express have also sent their planes to the two cities for evacuation of Indians as the Ukraine airspace is closed.
India began the evacuation of its citizens from Romania and Hungary – western neighbours of Ukraine – on Saturday and the Tata Group-owned Air India has brought back 1,396 Indian nationals in six evacuation flights till now.
On Monday, the fifth Air India flight landed in Delhi from Bucharest with 249 Indian nationals, while the sixth flight arrived from Budapest here with 240 Indian nationals, officials said.
Around 14,000 Indians, mainly college students, are currently stranded in Ukraine.
SpiceJet said it will use its Boeing 737 MAX aircraft for this special flight that will depart from Delhi Monday evening.
“The aircraft will fly to Budapest from Delhi and the return flight will operate via Kutaisi, Georgia,” it mentioned.
SpiceJet said it is planning to operate more evacuation flights and is in discussion with the authorities concerned.
Tata Group-owned Air India Express said it will operate a Bucharest-Mumbai flight Monday night with 182 stranded passengers.
“The flight will have a stopover in Kuwait for refuelling. It will land in Mumbai at 9:30 AM tomorrow (Tuesday),” it added.
IndiGo said it is operating two evacuation flights using A321 aircraft to bring back the Indian citizens safely following the crisis in Ukraine.
Both the flights will land in Delhi on Tuesday, it noted.
“These flights are being operated from Delhi to Bucharest, Romania and to Budapest, Hungary via Istanbul, today, as part of the Indian government’s Operation Ganga mission,” it mentioned.
India’s largest airline said it is closely liaising with the government to offer its support for more such evacuations flights.
Later during the day, IndiGo said it will send four more planes on Tuesday to evacuate stranded Indian citizens.
“Two flights each will be operated from Delhi to Budapest, Hungary and to Rzeszow, Poland via Istanbul, respectively. These aircraft will depart Delhi on March 1,” it noted.
The Indian Embassy in Ukraine stated on Monday that the weekend curfew has been lifted in Kyiv and all students are advised to make their way to the railway station for onward journey to the western parts of the country.
“Ukraine Railways putting special trains for evacuations. We sincerely request all Indian nationals/students to remain calm, peaceful and united,” it mentioned.
A large crowd can be expected at the railway stations, therefore, it is advised that all Indian students remain patient, composed and not exhibit aggressive behaviour while at the railway stations, it noted.
“We expect delays in trains’ schedule, even cancellation at times and long queues,” it mentioned.
Indian students are requested to carry their passport, sufficient cash, ready-to-eat meals, easy accessible winter clothing and only essential items, to ensure easy mobility, it stated.
Be mindful of your belongings at all times, it advised.
“Ukrainians – both civilians and authorities – have been remarkably supportive in facilitating evacuation efforts of Indian citizens, especially considering these critical and dangerous times. You are all requested to respect this sentiment,” it noted.
Indian students in the UK have mobilised their networks across Europe to facilitate the evacuation of fellow students stranded in Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict with Russia.
Thousands have been attempting to cross the border into neighbouring regions of Poland, Slovakia and Romania to be flown out on one of the Operation Ganga rescue flights, launched by the government to evacuate Indians from the conflict zone.
The National Indian Students and Alumni Union (NISAU) UK on Monday confirmed a latest batch of 40 students successfully crossing over into Romania, to be flown back to Delhi soon.
However, the student group estimates over 18,000 students remain stranded in the region as their long-distance rescue efforts continue.
“We have 24/7 helplines where we are non-stop coordinating with impacted students and advising them with the government instructions and advisories,” said Sanam Arora, NISAU UK chair and UK advisor to the Rescuing Every Distressed Indian Overseas (REDIO), launched by minister of state for external affairs Meenakshi Lekhi.
“Students are saying that they are unable to reach Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) officials on the ground for coordination; our team is helping by ensuring the right information reaches students in a timely manner,” she said.
With the use of social media groups on WhatsApp and Telegram, NISAU UK has been active since the conflict broke out last week to ensure the MEA advisories are filtered through to students desperate to evacuate.
“Students are now telling us that they are starting to run out of food, so we will be looking at how we can support on-ground efforts in getting food over to them,” added Arora.
More than 4,000 stranded students have reached out to the group of student volunteers in the UK for help so far, including their worried family members in India.
“The efforts of our volunteers are helping the MEA coordinate its efforts as otherwise there is no record of which students are where,” NISAU UK said.
Reports from Poland have highlighted concerns for the safety of many of the Indian students who have undertaken the tough journey to escape the violence in Ukrainian cities towards the Polish border.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high level meeting in New Delhi on Monday to review the efforts under Operation Ganga to bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine.
“PM said that the entire government machinery is working round the clock to ensure that all Indians there are safe & secure,” the MEA spokesperson said on Twitter.
Meanwhile, the latest advisory from the Indian Embassy in Kyiv advises stranded Indians to make their way to the railway station after the weekend curfew was lifted in the Ukrainian capital.
It calls for Indians to remain “calm, peaceful and united” and carry sufficient cash, ready to eat meals and warm clothes.
“Ukrainians both civilians and authorities have been remarkably supportive in facilitating evacuation efforts of Indian citizens, especially considering these critical and dangerous times,” it notes.
The Indian Embassy in Romania warned students against fraudulent money making attempts for a transfer from the Romanian border to the capital Bucharest.
“Pl. note that all services provided by the Embassy are free, including transport to Bucharest. Please do not pay money to anyone,” the embassy tweeted.
A seventh evacuation flight carrying 182 Indians from the Romanian capital Bucharest left for India on Monday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.
Following the closure of the Ukrainian airspace, India is facilitating the evacuation of its citizens stranded in the east European country through its land border crossings with Romania, Hungary and Poland.
“#OperationGanga advances to its seventh flight. 182 Indian nationals have started the journey to Mumbai from Bucharest,” Jaishankar said in a tweet.
India has named its evacuation mission “Operation Ganga”.
The first evacuation flight carrying 219 Indians from Bucharest landed in Mumbai on Saturday evening.
So far, 1,396 Indian nationals have been brought back from Ukraine in six evacuation flights.
