Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Friday welcomed Indian students who returned from war-hit Ukraine under Operation Ganga, at the Mumbai airport on Friday.
As many as 184 students returned from Ukraine at 12.15 pm on Friday. The students reached Budapest and were evacuated from there in Air India IX 1602.
According to MoS External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi, so far 9,000 Indian citizens have returned from the war-torn country.
Three more Indian Air Force's C-17 aircraft returned to Hindan airbase late last night and early morning today carrying 630 Indian nationals from Ukraine, using airfields in Romania and Hungary under Operation Ganga.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday chaired a meeting to discuss the ongoing evacuation drive of Indian nationals and the situation in conflict-hit Ukraine.
The meeting was attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and other senior officials.
The Prime minister had on Monday chaired two meetings to review the ongoing efforts under Operation Ganga for the return of Indians from Ukraine amid military operations by Russia.
Another meeting was held on Sunday. The Cabinet Committee on Security had met on February 24 in the wake of Russian military actions in Ukraine.The Centre has ramped up efforts to evacuate Indian citizens stranded in Ukraine amid heightened tensions.
The government has also deployed 'special envoys' to four neighbouring countries bordering Ukraine to coordinate and oversee the evacuation process of Indian nationals.
Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri is overseeing evacuation efforts in Hungary, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju in Slovakia, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in Romania and Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways and Civil Aviation Gen VK Singh in Poland.
( With inputs from ANI )
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