New Delhi: India was in touch with Russian authorities over providing safe passage to the Indian nationals stuck in Ukraine even as around 17,000 Indians have been able to leave the borders of the war-torn country so far, Ministry of External Affairs said on Wednesday.
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi briefed media about 'Operation Ganga' and the current status of the evacuation process. "We estimate that around 17,000 Indians have left Ukraine's borders since our advisories were issued. This includes some Indians who had not registered with the embassy earlier. Flight under Operation Ganga have also increased sharply," he said.
India, he said, was in communication with the Russian side regarding the safe passage of the Indian nationals from Kharkiv and other cities. "Cities in eastern Ukraine remain an area of concern. Encouraging reports that some students were able to board trains out of Kharkiv last night, today morning...We have been in communication with the Russian side regarding the safe passage of our nationals from Kharkiv other cities," Bagchi said.
Earlier today, Russian Ambassador-designate Denis Alipov said Russia will investigate the death of the 21-year-old Indian medical student killed in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagoudar, a fourth-year medical student at the Kharkiv National Medical University, was killed in intense shelling in Kharkiv on Tuesday.
Following the incident, India asked the envoys of both Russia and Ukraine to ensure "urgent safe passage" to Indian nationals who are still in Kharkiv and other conflict zones. "I want to express our sympathy to the family of Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagoudar and to the entire Indian nation over the tragedy," Alipov said at a media briefing. "Russia will do everything it possibly can to ensure the safety of Indian citizens in the areas of intense conflict...and a proper investigation of this unfortunate incident," he said.
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Bagchi, meanwhile, said that 15 flights were scheduled over the next 24 hours while some of them were already actually en route. The MEA spokesperson also confirmed the death of another Indian student in Kharkiv. "Chandan Jindal, an Indian national in Ukraine lost his life due to natural causes. His family is also in Ukraine," he said.
The Indian embassy in Kyiv in its latest advisory today has asked Indian nationals to leave Kharkiv immediately for their safety and security. "For their safety and security, they must leave Kharkiv immediately. Proceed to Pesochin, Babaye and Bezlyudovka as soon as possible. Under all circumstances they must reach these settlements by 1800 hrs", the advisory read.
Bagchi said the advisory was issued by Indian Embassy based on information received from Russia. "We would urge all our nationals to leave Kharkiv immediately to safe zones or further westwards using any means available, including on foot, and keeping safety in mind", he added.
The Ministry said that a mechanism for issuing emergency certificates to those who lost their Indian passports has been instituted and will also help many Indian students. During the last 24 hours, six flights have landed in India, taking the total number of flights that have landed in India to 15 and the total number of Indians who have returned on these flights to 3,352, MEA spokesperson added.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has also joined Operation Ganga, with the first C-17 flight from Bucharest (Romania) expected to return to Delhi later tonight. Three more IAF flights will be undertaken today from Budapest (Hungary), Bucharest (Romania) and Rzeszow (Poland). Bagchi underscored that the Embassy (in Kyiv) was asked to set up a temporary office in Lviv to facilitate border crossings by Indians.
"A substantial segment of our Embassy team is now at Lviv for this purpose. The location of the other segment of the Embassy team is dynamic", he added.
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