Operation Ganga

India, Feb 26: Under Operation Ganga, the first Air India flight carrying 219 Indian evacuees from war zone Ukraine landed safely in Mumbai on Saturday at around 8:30 pm. The flight that had departed from Mumbai at 3.38 am. Union Minister Piyush Goyal was present at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport to welcome the first batch of evacuees and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working relentlessly to ensure the safety of every Indian.

Goyal shared a video on Twitter welcoming the nationals back to their motherland. “Welcome back to the motherland! Glad to see the smiles on the faces of Indians safely evacuated from Ukraine at the Mumbai airport.Govt. led by PM Narendra Modi Ji is working relentlessly to ensure the safety of every Indian,” he tweeted.

The aircraft, which had taken off from the Henri Coanda International Airport, Bucharest, Romania this afternoon, brought home 219 passengers, mostly students from India.

Goyal asked the returning passengers to speak to their friends still in Ukraine and reassure them not to worry. He said the government is working in mission mode to ensure the safety of our citizens.

He added that more evacuation flights are being operated and the second flight is likely to land in Delhi in the wee hours of Sunday.

Also Read: “Don’t Go To Border Posts Without…”: Advisory issued by Indian Embassy In Ukraine

The minister also thanked Air India for its commitment to the national cause, which was met with applause by all the homecoming passengers.

Retweeting Goyal’s tweet, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called it a “first step of Operation Ganga“.

 

Evacuees including many students thanked the govt for their swift action in bringing back the Indian nationals to their homeland.

In a statement earlier in the day, CSMIA said, “In the light of the current crisis in Ukraine, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) is extending full support to the evacuation of the stranded Indian students, who are arriving in Mumbai today (Saturday) by AI-1944 at 8 pm (expected time of arrival).” The private airport operator also said it has blocked a special corridor for the arriving passengers.