NEW DELHI: The Indian students evacuated from Sumy were brought to Poland late Wednesday in a special train from Lviv, and will be flown back to India on Thursday, according to the government. The students, numbering around 700, were evacuated from the conflict zone on Tuesday in buses and taken to Poltava in central Ukraine through a circuitous but safe route.
Official sources also said the government will operate its last evacuation flight under Operation Ganga on Thursday and those who choose to stay behind will have to find their own way out and take a commercial flight to India.
Apart from Indian embassy officials, 50 other officials, including some of the joint secretary rank who are fluent in Russian, were sent to Ukraine to facilitate evacuation. The government does not want to endanger their lives by asking them to stay put in the war zone.
Official sources said 17 foreign nationals from India’s neighbourhood, including Pakistan’s Asma Shafique, were among those evacuated by Indian authorities and brought to Lviv. Thirteen Bangladeshis, two Tunisians and a Nepalese national were also among the evacuees. Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina thanked PM Modi for including students from her country in Operation Ganga.
“I want to thank the Indian embassy of Kyiv for supporting us all the way here as we were stuck in a very difficult situation and I also want to thank the Prime Minister of India for supporting us. Hope we get home safely because of the Indian embassy,” said Shafique, in a video tweeted by a news agency.
Official sources recalled the Indian embassy’s advisory on Tuesday that all Indian nationals in Ukraine use the available humanitarian corridor to leave the country as establishment of such corridors in the future was uncertain.
Nearly 22,000 Indians, mainly students, have been evacuated, including from active conflict zones like Kharkiv and Sumy in Ukraine, said a source. “When the war broke out, idea was to strengthen the embassy in Kyiv. The first additional MEA (ministry of external affairs) team reached Ukraine on February 22. After that, it was a real challenge to flow in personnel,” he added.
According to the government, PM Modi’s phone calls with President Vladimir Putin and his Ukraine counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday paved the way for the evacuation from Sumy. As reported by TOI on Tuesday, this was followed by foreign minister S Jaishankar’s phone call to his Ukrainian counterpart and foreign secretary Harsh Shringla calling in the Russian and Ukrainian ambassadors.
Official sources also said the government will operate its last evacuation flight under Operation Ganga on Thursday and those who choose to stay behind will have to find their own way out and take a commercial flight to India.
Apart from Indian embassy officials, 50 other officials, including some of the joint secretary rank who are fluent in Russian, were sent to Ukraine to facilitate evacuation. The government does not want to endanger their lives by asking them to stay put in the war zone.
Official sources said 17 foreign nationals from India’s neighbourhood, including Pakistan’s Asma Shafique, were among those evacuated by Indian authorities and brought to Lviv. Thirteen Bangladeshis, two Tunisians and a Nepalese national were also among the evacuees. Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina thanked PM Modi for including students from her country in Operation Ganga.
“I want to thank the Indian embassy of Kyiv for supporting us all the way here as we were stuck in a very difficult situation and I also want to thank the Prime Minister of India for supporting us. Hope we get home safely because of the Indian embassy,” said Shafique, in a video tweeted by a news agency.
Official sources recalled the Indian embassy’s advisory on Tuesday that all Indian nationals in Ukraine use the available humanitarian corridor to leave the country as establishment of such corridors in the future was uncertain.
Nearly 22,000 Indians, mainly students, have been evacuated, including from active conflict zones like Kharkiv and Sumy in Ukraine, said a source. “When the war broke out, idea was to strengthen the embassy in Kyiv. The first additional MEA (ministry of external affairs) team reached Ukraine on February 22. After that, it was a real challenge to flow in personnel,” he added.
According to the government, PM Modi’s phone calls with President Vladimir Putin and his Ukraine counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday paved the way for the evacuation from Sumy. As reported by TOI on Tuesday, this was followed by foreign minister S Jaishankar’s phone call to his Ukrainian counterpart and foreign secretary Harsh Shringla calling in the Russian and Ukrainian ambassadors.