22,500 Indian nationals evacuated from Ukraine: Meenakashi Lekhi tells Lok Sabha

New Delhi, Dec 09: Around 22,500 Indian nationals, mostly students, returned from Ukraine since the war broke out between Russia and Ukraine on February 1, Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Meenakashi Lekhi informed the Lok Sabha on Friday.

"All Indian citizens willing to return to India were evacuated from Ukraine under 'Operation Ganga', 90 evacuation flights were operated at the Government of India's cost," she said.

The Government had coordinated with the Indian carriers for the operation of evacuation flights. Six private airlines, namely Air Asia, Air India, Air India Express, Go First, Indigo and Spicejet operated chartered services under Operation Ganga. Air India and Air India Express together have operated 23 evacuation flights under Operation Ganga. The airfare for all the flights operated under Operation Ganga has been borne entirely by the Government, the government said in a statement.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had earlier claimed that Under 'Operation Ganga', 90 flights had been operated, out of which 76 were civilian flights and 14 were Indian Air-force flights.

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had earlier said that "Operation Ganga will rank as one of the most well-coordinated and successful humanitarian evacuation missions undertaken by any country, anywhere in the world". Hardeep Singh Puri was one of the four cabinet ministers who were deputed to the neighbouring countries of Ukraine to coordinate the evacuation efforts on the ground, the other ministers being, Kiren Rijiju, Jyotiraditya Scindia and VK Singh.

Earlier in March, the External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar in a written statement laid on the table of Rajya Sabha said that the government has been able to safely bring home 22,500 Indian citizens and 147 foreign nationals belonging to 18 countries from Ukraine since February 2022 in the wake of Russia-Ukraine war.

India's foreign policy helped during the evacuation of Indian nationals under Operation Ganga in Ukraine, Operation Devi Shakti in Afghanistan and Vande Bharat mission during the COVID-19 pandemic, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said.