The evacuation of students from Ukraine was “extremely complex’’, as it involved the prospects of them getting caught in crossfire, says the government.

Making a statement in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday on the situation in Ukraine, external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar said that the evacuation mission involved a “whole government approach’’.

It was possible to evacuate the students safely due to the personal intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leaders of Russia and Ukraine, he stated.

In his statement Dr Jaishankar said, “On multiple occasions the Prime Minister spoke to Presidents of Russia and Ukraine and took up the issue of safe evacuation of Indians especially from Sumy and Kharkiv.”

To seek support for facilitation of entry of Indians to their countries, Prime Minister Modi also spoke to the leaders of Romania, Slovak Republic, Hungary, and Poland.

Referring to the challenges due to the serious ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the minister told the Upper House that around 22, 50 Indian citizens have come back home safely.

Operation Ganga

Sharing details of Operation Ganga with the members of Rajya Sabha, the minister said that out of the 90 flights that were operating for evacuation, 76 were civilian flights and 14 were transport aircraft C-17 Globemaster III that were deployed for this special operation by the Indian Air Force.

These special evacuation flights, according to the minister, took off from Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania.

 In his statement the minister assured the House that the mortal remains of the Indian student Navin Shekarappa, who was a medical student of Kharkiv Medical University, will be brought back to the country.

The Indian mission in Ukraine is pursuing the repatriation of the remains of the student who lost his life in the war torn country.

The medical expenses of another Indian Harjot Singh who had suffered bullet injuries on his way out in Kyiv were taken care of by the Indian government. Also, arrangements for moving him from Kiev to the Polish border were organized by the mission and he returned on IAF flight accompanied by a doctor who was also arranged by the Indian mission in Poland.

Keeping in line with the principle of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, India also helped in evacuating nationals of foreign nations – 147 citizens of 18 countries came back on various flights.

Advisories issued

The minister also informed the Upper House that advisories were issued by the Indian mission in Ukraine. The registration drive was started soon as tensions increased between Ukraine and Russia in January. And under the registration process almost 20,000 Indians had registered. Most of the students were pursuing medical studies across various universities in that country.

In February more advisories were issued, and to make things easier the Air Bubble instructions then imposed were lifted immediately. This step was taken in consultation with the Ukrainian side and this was done in an effort to increase the direct flights from there. Till February 23, around 4000 Indian citizens had come back on commercial flights.

Why did the students not return earlier?

According to the minister there was a reluctance to leave their educational institutions because they feared it would affect their studies. He also said that there were some universities which were actively discouraging students to leave and were also reluctant to offer classes online.

Concern about their future

On the concerns about the careers of the students who were evacuated, the minister assured the House that “The government will approach the matter with fullest responsibility.”

The number of Indian citizens left is just in double digits, he added.