IAF's evacuation flights with 798 Indians land at Hindon airbase, PM Modi monitoring developments

India's ministry of external affairs said that the embassy in Ukraine is in "continuous touch" with Indian nationals in Ukraine and also noted that the authorities cooperated while evacuating students from war-torn Ukraine. 

On Thursday (March 3), PTI reported quoting sources said the Indian Air Force's four evacuation flights with 798 Indians from the Romanian capital Bucharest, Hungary's Budapest and Polish city Rzeszow landed at the Hindon airbase in India. 

Sources also noted that the Union Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt welcomed the students after the IAF's first flight carrying 200 people from Bucharest landed at 1.30am (local time). 

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As quoted by India-based news agency ANI, Bhatt said, "We are taking care of every student returning from Ukraine. Our four Union ministers are taking care of every aspect of evacuation operations in different neighbouring countries of Ukraine. Operation Ganga is progressing successfully". 

Bhatt interacted with the evacuees and said that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself is monitoring all developments. 

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Important to note that India has been evacuating its citizens through special flights from Ukraine's western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24. 

To facilitate the evacuation of Indian nationals, four Indian ministers have gone to Ukraine's western neighbours. Hardeep Singh Puri is in Hungary, Jyotiraditya Scindia is in Romania, Kiren Rijiju is in Slovakia and V K Singh is in Poland. 

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