New Delhi, Mar 4 (FN Bureau) India has brought back 10,344 of its citizens on board 48 flights as part of Operation Ganga so far, with another 16 flights scheduled in the next 24 hours, including four C17 Globemasters, the MEA said on Friday. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, in his special media briefing, said that as of today more than 20,000 Indians have left Ukraine since the first of the advisories was issued in January. “The total number of Indians who have left Ukraine is over 20,000,” he said, adding that nearly 20,000 Indians had registered with the Indian Embassy in Kyiv since the first advisory was issued in January this year. The number of Indians who have left Ukraine is more than the number who had registered with the Indian Embassy. “It is a very reassuring feeling to see that 20,000 have left the Ukraine border,” he added. He said during the past 24 hours (from Thursday evening) 18 flights have landed in India bringing back around 4,000 Indians.
In all, since Operation Ganga was started to evacuate Indians, 48 flights have landed bringing back 10,344 Indian nationals. He said the 10,344 figure constitutes people who have arrived in India on the Op Ganga flights, while the 20,000 number is of Indians who have left Ukraine, but not all have arrived in India. The spokesperson said that in the next 24 hours, 16 flights have been scheduled, including four C17 Globemasters of the Indian Air Force. The four C17s would be headed, one each to Bucharest, to Rzeszow in Poland, Bratislava in Slovakia, and to Warsaw (Poland). He said Bratislava is a new point for evacuation that the Indian government is using. Of the 16 flights, five would leave from Budapest, four from Suceawa in Romania, three from Rseszow in Poland, and one each from Slovakia, Warsaw, Bucharest and Bratislava.
“We are trying to use as many airports as we can,” he added. He said that with the 16 flights landing by tomorrow evening it would bring the total number of flights under Op Ganga to 64. “By this the vast majority of Indians who have crossed over from Ukraine would have come back to India,” he added. He said that there is a group of Indians waiting on the ground for evacuation. “Some more Indians will be left, we will continue to schedule flights to bring back those who have crossed over and those who are yet to cross over. We will continue till we mange to bring everybody out,” he added.