India to send humanitarian aid to war-hit Ukraine
India on Tuesday will send the first consignment of humanitarian aid and relief supplies to Ukraine at the request of the latter. Reportedly, the decision to send relief was taken at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday evening. The Centre is said to be still working out the quantity of humanitarian relief and medical supplies.
Why does this story matter?
India's decision to send aid to Ukraine assumes significance after it abstained from voting against Russia at the United Nations Security Council meeting. The move can also be seen in the context that around 12,000 Indians, mostly students, are still stuck in Ukraine. Notably, India has been aggressively carrying out its evacuation mission to bring back Indians stranded from the war-hit country.
Four union ministers to supervise evacuation effort
Meanwhile, the Centre has decided to send four Union Ministers--Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju, and Gen (Retd) VK Singh--to neighboring countries of Ukraine as Special Envoys of India to supervise the evacuation. Scindia will look after Romania and Moldova, while Rijiju and Puri will go to Slovakia and Hungary, respectively. Singh will be in Poland to manage the evacuation process.
Presence of ministers will energize evacuation efforts: Modi
According to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office, the visit of four ministers will "energize the evacuation efforts." "It is reflective of the priority the Government attaches to this matter," it quoted PM Modi as saying.
How is India evacuating its citizens?
India is evacuating its citizens under its flagship Operation Ganga initiative. Since the Ukrainian airspace is closed, the Indian evacuation flights are operating out of Romanian capital Bucharest and Hungarian capital Budapest. India is facilitating the evacuation of stranded Indians from Ukraine through its land border crossings with Romania, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. Notably, the Centre is bearing the complete cost of evacuation.
Modi spoke to PM of Romania, Slovak republic
Meanwhile, PM Modi also spoke to Prime Minister of Romania Nicolae-Ionel Ciuca and Prime Minister of Slovak Republic Eduard Heger. Notably, India is planning to evacuate Indian nationals from Ukraine through these two neighboring countries west of Ukraine. In both the phone calls, Modi reportedly "stressed upon the importance of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations."
12,000 Indians still stuck in Ukraine: Government
As per the government estimate, out of 20,000 Indian nationals who were living in Ukraine, 8,000 had left the country since the government issued its first advisory in February. That leaves approximately 12,000 Indians there, most of them being students in medical colleges.
1,396 Indians evacuated under Operation Ganga
Under India's flagship Operation Ganga mission, a total of 1,396 stranded Indians have been brought back in six Air India flights via Romania's Bucharest and Hungary's Budapest till Monday. Another eight flights are planned to fly to these two airports to bring back more stranded citizens, officials told The Indian Express. Reportedly, evacuation flights are also being planned for Warsaw in Poland.
Which airlines are operating evacuation flights?
Apart from Air India and its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express, IndiGo and SpiceJet have also announced their flights to Europe. While IndiGo dispatched an aircraft to Bucharest and Budapest via Istanbul, a SpiceJet flight also departed for Budapest from Delhi on Monday.
India encouraging its citizens to move to western Ukraine
Meanwhile, India is "encouraging" its citizens to move to western Ukraine. However, they have been asked not to reach the border directly. "They should first reach the nearby towns and take shelter," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. India has also identified a new train route from Uzhhorod in western Ukraine to Budapest, Bagchi said.
