Union ministers to travel to countries around Ukraine to coordinate evacuation of Indians

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing Ukraine crisis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday called a high-level meeting to discuss the broad situation as well as the evacuation of Indian nationals from the European country. The government has, meanwhile, decided to send some Union ministers to the neighboring countries of Ukraine to coordinate the evacuation process, said highly-placed sources. As per the details available, Union ministers Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and Gen (Retd) VK Singh will travel to countries around Ukraine like Romania, Hungary and Poland to coordinate the evacuation mission. The ministers will also assist the large number of Indian students who continue to remain stranded in Ukraine. It may be noted that Russia led by President Vladimir Putin had invaded Ukraine last week and the fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces continues to rage.The announcement on ministers going to Europe to coordinate the evacuation mission came a day after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) started a dedicated Twitter handle, “OpGanga Helpline” (@opganga), for the purpose of evacuation of Indian nationals from Ukraine.Related NewsIndian students face hostility at Ukraine’s borders after India abstains from UNSC vote against Russia’Evacuating Indian students from Ukraine govt’s top priority’: PM Modi during high-level meet

#WATCH | The fifth #OperationGanga flight that departed from Bucharest (Romania), landed in Delhi earlier this morn… t.co/RJYv0D1vl1— ANI (@ANI) Feb 28, 2022The government has named the mission to evacuate stranded Indian nationals from the war-torn country as “Operation Ganga”. The government has also activated round-the-clock “control centres” in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia to coordinate the evacuation of Indian nationals from Ukraine through border-crossing points with these countries. Related NewsIndia abstains from UNSC procedural vote to call for General Assembly session on UkraineEarlier today, the fifth Operation Ganga flight that had departed from Bucharest in Romania arrived in Delhi this morning. The flight brought back 249 Indian nationals. “The government has helped us a lot. All possible support was provided by the Indian Embassy. The main problem is crossing the border. I hope all Indians are brought back. There are several more Indians still stranded in Ukraine,” said one of the students who arrived in Delhi today. Helpline numbers and email ids for Indians stranded in Ukraine Poland helpline numbers: +48225400000, +48795850877 and +48792712511 | Email: controlroominwarsaw@gmail.comRomaina helpline numbers: +40732124309, +40771632567, +40745161631 and +40741528123 | Email: controlroombucharest@gmail.com Hungary helpline numbers: +36 308517373, +36 13257742 and +36 13257743 | WhatsApp number: +36 308517373Slovakia helpline numbers: +421 252631377, +421 252962916 and +421 951697560 | Email: hoc.bratislava@mea.gov.in