Varanasi: As the Government of India continues with its evacuation efforts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with students who have returned from Russia-invaded Ukraine in Varanasi on Thursday. The students who belonged to Varanasi, also other parts of India, shared with the Prime Minister their experience of returning to their homeland.
During the interaction with PM Modi, the students shared their experiences with him. The students were from Varanasi as well as other parts of Uttar Pradesh.
A total of 17000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the advisories were issued and flights under Operation Ganga have been increased to facilitate the evacuation of remaining students stranded in Ukraine. The students who left Ukraine also included some Indians who had not registered with the Embassy of India in Kyiv previously.
Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia on Thursday said that 3,726 Indians will be brought back home today by 19 flights from Bucharest, Suceava, Kosice, Budapest, and Rzeszow. India has also pressed in American C-17 Globemasters and IL-76 transport aircraft which are the most capable of flying to long distances with around 400 passengers.
On February 26, India announced its evacuation plan ‘Operation Ganga’ to bring back all the stranded Indian nationals to safety. As part of Operations Ganga, 46 flights up until March 8 have been scheduled.
Meanwhile, India today rejected claims by both Russia and Ukraine that Indian students are being held hostage in the besieged city of Kharkiv, and said it has requested the support of Ukrainian authorities in arranging special trains for taking them out from the city and neighboring areas.
