What is Operation Ganga? : During the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Indian government launched Operation Ganga to evacuate Indian people who had crossed into neighbouring countries. To reach India, the neighbouring countries of Romania, Hungary, Poland, Moldova, and Slovakia provided transportation help. On February 26, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on a number of important issues, including the safety of students. On February 27, around 2.55 a.m. Indian Standard Time (IST), the first evacuation flight from Bucharest arrived in New Delhi with 249 nationals. The next day, four union ministers — Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju, and V.K. Singh – were dispatched to neighbouring countries to aid in the prioritisation of issues.
Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju, and V.K. Singh, four union ministers, were dispatched the next day to surround countries to aid in prioritising collaboration with local authorities. Logistics were provided by the Indian Air Force and a number of private airlines (Air India, IndiGo, Air India Express, SpiceJet, AirAsia India, and Go First). Between February 24 and March 7, the Indian Prime Minister spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin several times regarding the situation, during which the evacuation was transmitted and help was acknowledged, among other things.
In Ukraine, there were roughly 20,000 Indian nationals, with little over 18,000 of them being students. At the time of the Russian invasion, approximately 16,000 Indian people were present in Ukraine. By the 5th of March, about 18,000 people had entered the Ukrainian border. However, students still in Ukraine, including as those in Sumy, have demanded an emergency evacuation. The Indian Ministry of Defence issued survival advice for individuals who remained in Ukraine, specifically Kharkiv, on March 2nd, following an embassy advisory to “Leave Kharkiv Immediately.”Around 16,000 Indians had been evacuated to India in 76 aircraft by the 6th of March. The MEA said on March 8 that all students in Sumy had been relocated thanks to humanitarian corridors.
India has provided aid to Ukraine, including medications and other necessities, as a humanitarian gesture. The Indian government has declared that if assistance is requested, people from neighbouring and poor nations in Ukraine will be offered. The last trapped Indian Nationals from Ukraine’s Sumy were transported to Rzeszow airport in Poland on March 10th through 13 buses and subsequently returned to India on March 11th via three planes, completing the operation. On the same day, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar praised the operation on Twitter, thanking everyone who was responsible for and assisted in completing the mission.
