Indian Students Evacuated Amidst War Torn Ukraine

Operation Ganga, largest evacuation exercise since world war two demonstrates the country’s strength, compassion and reach globally

Rohan Giri / New Delhi

Millions of students and professionals from different countries were stuck in Ukraine during special military operation launched by Russia two weeks back that included massive air raids, rolling out columns of tanks and firing of missiles.

Most of these individuals and families were anxious to head back home to escape the Russian operations. But then, the Russian attack left them stranded with airspace is shut, trains suspended and borders sealed.

Especially, students that form large chunk of foreign nationals in Ukraine were left with very few options to escape from the military action unleashed by Russia headed by President Vladimir Putin.

Prior to the attack, several European, the US and Western countries embassies as well as High Commissions had issued advisories to their respective citizens to leave the conflict ridden country.

On its part, Indian Embassy in Ukraine did the same. As the military conflict situation evolved, Indians mostly students studying medicine in several Ukrainian universities found it a daunting task to escape from their cities.

While most countries left their citizens to fend for themselves, Indian government along with a host of voluntary and semi-government organizations launched ‘Operation Ganga’, code-named for the biggest evacuation campaign since World War II.

 Apart from a small Indian Business community in Ukraine, more than 18000 Indian students study medicine and engineering in Ukrainian universities were to be pulled out of military conflict zones especially in Eastern region.

Apart from issuing advisories from time to time, India asked its citizens whose stay was non-essential to move out to safe harbours. This was essentially viewed as a temporary measure as the conflict was expected to end in a couple of days.

But, as the air raids intensified, bombing continued round the clock and tanks rolled into city after city, it became virtually impossible for Indians to stay back like other foreign nationals. This was the backdrop to launch ‘Operation Ganga’ with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading from the front.

Following the first advisory on February 15, Indian mission not only in Ukraine, but several other countries in Baltic region came in for coordinated efforts to get out the Indians.  

Before the ‘Operation Ganga’ was launched, several measures were rolled out by Indian government as precursor to a difficult humanitarian operation that was conducted with dexterity and precision.

Prime Minister Modi’s personal engagement with his counterparts in Russia and Ukraine worked wonders. A brief timeline of how events unfolded demonstrate the way things were planned to bring Indians back home with very little fuss.

Here’s the Timeline:

1. On February 16, Cap on passengers was removed under the Air bubble arrangement.
2. On February 18, Air India flights were announced for evacuation on Feb 22, 24 and 26.
3. On February 20, Air India was considering postponing flights due to no booking from Ukraine. The mission issued the second advisory strongly urging Indian Nationals to leave on the same day.
4. On February 22, a third advisory was issued regarding additional flights.
5. On February 24, the Airspace of Ukraine has been closed, and alternative arrangements are being made.
6. On February 25, the Government of India and the Embassy of India are working to establish evacuation routes from Romania and Hungary. Advised to Print out the Indian flag and paste it prominently on vehicles and buses while travelling.
7. On February 26, those staying in the Eastern area of Ukraine remain in their current places of residence until further instruction.
8. On March 01, successfully facilitated the movement of more than 1400 students out of Zaporizhzhia, city in South-East Ukraine, westwards.
9. On March 02, Urgent advisory to Indian students in Kharkiv for their safety and security must leave Kharkiv immediately.

Operation Ganga

As the crisis between Russia and Ukraine escalated, Ukraine closed its Airspace for civilian flights. More than 18,000 Indian expatriates, mostly students, were left stranded during the crisis.

As students appealed for evacuation from the shelters, the Indian government launched a multi-pronged evacuation plan called \’Operation Ganga\’ to bring its citizens home.

The Indian missions in Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary were made Arrangements under \’Operation Ganga\’ to bring back Indian citizens from Ukraine.

Under \’Operation Ganga\’, Minister of Petroleum, Government of India, Hardeep Puri was sent to Hungary, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia was sent to Romania and Moldova to bring back Indian citizens; Law Minister Kiren Rijiju in Slovakia and Minister of State for Civil Aviation in Poland VK Singh were sent.

Major Evacuation Operations by Indian government

The Indian diaspora is the most skilled in the world. In difficult times, the Government of India has started many operations to bring back its people.

1. When the Covid-19 outbreak attacked the world, India\’s government launched the \”Vande Bharat Mission\” to return Indian people who got stucked in foreign lands. As of April 30, 2021, around 60 lakh Indians had been returned through multiple phases of the operation.
2. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Operation Samudra Setu was a naval operation that was part of a national attempt to bring back Indian citizens who had been abroad. It was able to return 3,992 Indian citizens to their motherland by sea. The Indian Naval ships Jalashwa (Landing Platform Dock) and Airavat, Shardul, and Magar (Landing Ship Tanks) took part in the 55-day operation, which covered more than 23,000 kilometers by sea.
3. In March 2016, Terrorist attacks occurred at Brussels Airport in Zaventem and Maalbeek Metro station in central Brussels. A Jet Airways flight brought back 242 Indians, including 28 crew members.
4. The Yemeni government and Houthi rebels were engaged in a conflict in 2015. Thousands of Indians were trapped, and Yemen was cut off from the rest of the world by Saudi Arabia\’s declaration of a no-fly zone. India rescued almost 5,600 people from Yemen as part of Operation Raahat.
5. In the wake of the 2015 Nepal earthquake, the Indian government and the Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Maitri, a cooperative relief and rescue operation. Over 5,000 Indians were returned from Nepal by Air Force and civilian planes as part of a joint Army-Air Force operation. One hundred seventy foreign nationals from the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, and Germany were also successfully evacuated by the Indian army.
6. In 2011, India launched \’Operation Homecoming\’ to bring back Indian citizens stranded in conflict-torn Libya. Under the operation, India evacuated 15,400 Indian nationals. The Indian Navy and Air India conducted the air-sea operation.

India has a long history of protecting her nationals worldwide. Former external affairs minister of Indian Government, late Sushma Swaraj had summed up the country’s stand through a tweet on June 08, 2017, “even if you are stuck on the Mars, Indian Embassy there will help you.”

Even if you are stuck on the Mars, Indian Embassy there will help you. https://t.co/Smg1oXKZXD

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) June 8, 2017

This commitment to her citizens lies in India’s centuries’ old civilizational values imbibed by government of the day.

(Author is an operations manager at Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies, New Delhi)

References:

1. https://www.eoiukraine.gov.in/advisory.php
2. https://www.eoiukraine.gov.in/community.php
3. https://www.mea.gov.in/media-briefings.htm?dtl/34916/Transcript_of_Special_Briefing_on_Operation_Ganga_March_01_2022
4. https://mea.gov.in/vande-bharat-mission-list-of-flights.htm
5. https://maritimeindia.org/mitigating-covid-operation-samudra-setu/
6. http://www.indiandefensenews.in/2021/08/india-rescues-diplomatic-staff.html
7. https://www.mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/30461/Operation_Samudra_Maitri_Indias_Assistance_to_Earthquake_and_Tsunami_affected_areas_in_Indonesia
8. https://mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/662/Operation+Safe+Homecoming+successfully+drawing+towards+a+close++Update+of+10th+March+2011