Officials have said that amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Indian Air Force has put its aircraft on standby for ‘Operation Ganga’ under which Indian nationals will be evacuated from the war-torn Ukraine. Several heavy-lift planes including the C-17 Globemaster are being put on standby for the evacuation efforts.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reportedly asked the IAF to join the evacuation efforts.
India will send at least 46 evacuation flights to bring back the stranded Indian nationals, including all the medical students. Under India’s evacuation plan, “Operation Ganga”, the 46 flights are scheduled till March 8.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the flights planned are 29 from Bucharest, 10 from Budapest, six from Rzeszow, and one from Kosice. Besides, a C-17 aircraft of the IAF flew out at 4 am on Wednesday to Romania to repatriate the Indian citizens.
Yesterday, three evacuation flights from Romania’s capital Bucharest and Hungary’s capital Budapest came to India with 616 Indian nationals.
On Tuesday, two flights were operated by IndiGo while one service was operated by Tata Group-owned Air India Express.
India began the evacuation of its citizens from Ukraine’s western neighbors such as Romania and Hungary on February 26. Private Indian carriers have brought back 2,012 Indian nationals in nine special flights till now.
