OPERATION GANGA, is presently being carried out by Govt. of India to provide humanitarian assistance amidst the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine to Indian citizens who have crossed over to neighbouring countries. This then involves transport assistance from neighbouring countries of Romania, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia to reach India. This operation is planned by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Indian Armed Forces, and is executed by MEA, Indian Air Force (IAF), and Air India, Indigo, SpiceJet, Air India Express, with the support and coordination of the govt. and embassies of neighbouring countries. Approx 16,000 Indian nationals have been evacuated by 6th March 2022.
India had about 20,000 Indian nationals in Ukraine before the Russian invasion, out of which around 18,000 were students. However, emergency evacuation has been requested by students still in Ukraine, such as in Sumy. Operation Ganga was started on 26th February 2022, after Indian PM had a talk with the Ukrainian President during which the safety of Indians were brought up. The first evacuation flight from Bucharest reached New Delhi during the early hours of 27th February 2022. Four Union Ministers were sent to the neighbouring countries to assist in prioritising coordination with local authorities.
The Indian Govt. through its embassy in Kyiv issued advisories before the conflict started. It had athe mixed response. Approx 4000 Indian nationals left Ukraine before the closure of airspace over the affected areas on the morning of 24th February. The first advisory was issued by Govt. on 15th February which was followed by strong advisories. As it was becoming increasingly difficult to provide assistance, the Embassy on 26th February advised students not to go to border posts without prior coordination with them. On 28th February, the MEA advised all Indian citizens in Ukraine to move to and seek shelter in the towns of western Ukraine and go to the border only after coordinating with Indian authorities. The MEA set up multiple information and communication channels-round the clock helpline, email, website, fax, and phone numbers- and later on Twitter handle.
At present four ministers are deployed to neighbouring countries of Ukraine to assist coordination efforts. Jyotiraditya Scindia is looking after Romania and Maldova, Kiren Rijiiu is in Slovakia, Hardeep Singh Puri is in Hungary and General VK Singh is in Poland. From Ukraine, land routes to the bordering states have been used. From the bordering country’s capitals, flights are being flown to Delhi and Mumbai.
Many of the students in Ukraine have used hostels and bunkers in various buildings to take temporary shelter, especially those who are/were unable to travel to evacuation points.
Some Indian students reported through social media that they faced trouble and others were beaten up, while attempting to cross the Ukraine-Poland border. This matter was taken up with the higher authorities in Poland, and the matter was resolved at war footing. Indian embassy advisory said that Indian students to use the tricolor, the flag of India, to provide identification. Indian authorities have also sought Russian passage on the eastern front to evacuate the Indian citizens through Russia.
In my opinion Indian govt. has done exceptionally well in this matter, and within a day or two most of the Indians stuck in Ukraine will be evacuated. But Indian opposition parties, as usual, have started blaming the govt for mishandling the situation. There are enough hate mails and posts on Indian social media, condemning the govt. for not taking care of Indian citizens stuck in Ukraine. There are many fake videos on social media platforms, which show young people blaming the govt, for not providing necessary help to them. One video showed a girl blaming the govt, and it turned out that the girl was not the medical student in Ukraine, she is the daughter of some UP politician who is fighting assembly action. One Twitter post was mentioning that ‘ I have reached Mumbai, but govt. has not provided any mode of transport to reach the hometown’.
I failed to understand why this type of negativity, the govt. has brought the citizens back to their country from the war affected area, and how come it is the responsibility of govt to provide you with transport to your hometown. When these citizens must have left India to go to Ukraine, they must on their own have reached the nearest International airport from their hometown.
In the end, this type of negativity will go on for a long time, as Indian opposition( belonging to any political party) is not mature enough. Their main aim is to criticize the govt on each and every issue, and they least think about the welfare of the country, and what is good for the citizens. Most of them are self centered, as they can not think beyond their own benefits.
In the end, Operation Ganga is going to achieve the desired results.
Waiting for your views on this blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
7th March 2022.