50 Indians still in Ukraine, only few want to return: Centre in Rajya Sabha

India launched Operation Ganga to evacuate citizens from Ukraine who managed to reach the countries on the Ukrainian borders and also pressed the Air Force into action.

Around 50 Indians are still in Ukraine and of them, only a few are willing to return, Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi told the Rajya Sabha today, adding that their return is being facilitated by the Embassy. 22,500 Indians have returned from the war-torn country since last month, the minister said.

The government launched Operation Ganga to evacuate Indians from Ukraine who managed to reach the countries on the Ukrainian borders and also pressed the Air Force into action.

This is not the first time that the government, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has repatriated Indians amid a crisis.

Also Read: | IAF evacuates 629 Indian nationals within 24 hours unde Operation Ganga

When the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020, the Centre launched the Vande Bharat Mission to bring back Indians and created air bubbles to facilitate travel between India and 35 other countries. The air bubble arrangement was a temporary pact between two countries that aimed to restart commercial passenger services when regular international flights were suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Around 2.97 crore passengers were facilitated in the flights operated under the Vande Bharat Mission and the Air Bubble Arrangements so far, Lekhi said.

Operation Devi Shakti of the Armed Forces, launched to evacuate Indians and foreign nationals from Afghanistan when the Taliban swept to power, evacuated 669 people. These included 448 Indian nationals, 206 Afghans (including Hindu Sikh minority community members) and 15 people of other nationalities (Nepal, Lebanon and Uganda) on seven flights (six operated between August 16 to 25, 2021 and the last one on December 10, 2021), she added.