'Operation Ganga Not Over', At Least 15-30 Indians Still Awaiting Evacuation from Ukraine, Says Govt

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said the evacuation mission ‘Operation Ganga’ is “not over” at least 15-20 Indian nationals are in various Ukrainian cities in the midst of the Russian military aggression.

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the Indian government is providing all possible assistance to stranded nationals adding “some people are still in Kherson.” “Operation Ganga is not over….we are still trying to get people out of the warzone if they are willing to come back,” he said.

The statement comes days after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said 22,500 Indian citizens have returned safely from Ukraine.

The Indian government launched ‘Operation Ganga’ on February 26, two days after Russia launched its military offensive on Ukraine. The Indian embassy in Ukraine had started registration drive for India nationals in January and as a result 20,000 Indian nationals registered with Indian embassy, said Jaishankar in a statement in the Rajya Sabha on the matter.

The minister said a large number of students decided to stay back in Ukraine. “Despite our efforts, however, a large majority of students elected to continue staying in Ukraine. We must understand the predicament in this regard. There was natural reluctance to leave the educational institutions and affect the studies. Some universities actively discourage and showed reluctance to offer online courses. Many of them received conflicting advice regarding safety,” Jaishankar said.

The minister said that the conflict between Ukraine and Russia has major economic implications and same can be seen in the rising prices of energy and commodities. “The Ukraine conflict has major economic implications. Its impact on energy and commodity prices is already visible. The disruption of global supply chain is expected to be significant. India has substantial dealing with both Russia and Ukraine,” Jaishankar said.

(With PTI inputs)

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