How PM Modi won Putin's assurance to move Indian students from Ukraine: Jaishankar reveals

After more than an estimated 20,000 Indian nationals were evacuated from Ukraine amid the Russian aggression, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar revealed how Prime Minister Narendra Modi won Russian President Vladimir Putin's assurance to move Indian students from the war-hit Ukraine. Addressing Modi @20 book event in Gujarat, Union Minister Jaishankar disclosed that PM Modi called Putin and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in an effort to evacuate Indian students safely.

Explaining the difficulties faced by the Indian government while going ahead with its 'Operation Ganga', the External Affairs Minister said, "In Ukraine's Sumy and Kharkiv, PM Modi made calls to President Putin and Zelenskyy and told them that our children are stuck in Ukraine. He then requested them to assure him that firing will not happen at the time we were carrying out our rescue operation."

"After getting the assurance, we carried we continued with our rescue operation. This was how we were able to get our children out from Ukraine," he added. 

How India got its citizens out of war-hit Ukraine

Earlier in March after the Russian military launched an attack on its southern neighbour Ukraine, more than 20,000 Indian nationals were stuck in the war-hit country. Following this, the central government launched 'Operation Ganga', a combined civil and military effort, to ensure the swift and speedy evacuation of its stranded nationals. Initially, India used its civil airlines for carrying out the evacuation process in Ukraine, but by March 1 the Indian Air Force (IAF) was called in to help.

Notably, India brought back its nationals safely from Ukraine's neighbouring countries, including Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova, as well after they crossed over to these countries from Ukraine via land border transit points. In Ukraine, the government operated some 80 flights under Operation Ganga to safely bring about 20,000 Indians back home.