Ukraine conflict: PM Modi holds virtual interaction with embassy officials engaged in evacuation mission

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted virtually with officials of a number of embassies and groups involved in the evacuation of Indian students stranded in the war-hit Ukraine. He also held discussions with officials of Indian embassies based in Hungary and Romania.

In the meet, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri and Minister of State for Civil Aviation General (Retd) VK Singh were also present. Notably, Scindia was sent to Romania, Rijiju to the Slovak Republic, Puri to Hungary and VK Singh to Poland as special envoys under Operation Ganga.

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, on Tuesday, in a statement in the Rajya Sabha on the ongoing situation in Ukraine, highlighted that the evacuation from Sumy in Ukraine was extremely complex and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal intervention with the Presidents of Ukraine and Russia materialised the ceasefire and consequently the evacuation of Indian students from the city.

He noted that the evacuation from Sumy was complex as Indian students faced the prospect of being caught in the crossfire.

The EAM said that the evacuation from Sumy needed a credible ceasefire and this was finally materialised due to the personal intervention of PM Modi with the Presidents of Ukraine and Russia.

So far, India has been able to airlift around 22,500 stranded citizens in more than 80 special evacuation flights.

Through its 'Operations Ganga', India has also been able to rescue several citizens of the neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal.

During the operation, buses and trains brought Indians to the western borders of Ukraine and then, they were flown to India via Bucharest, Budapest, Suceava and Warsaw.

The last batch of over 600 students who were evacuated from Sumy was brought back to India via Poland.

In recent months, 'Operation Ganga' has been India's largest evacuation drive to bring back stranded Indians after operation 'Devi Shakti' was launched by the Narendra Modi government in Afghanistan last year. (ANI)