Top external affairs ministry officials on Monday briefed a parliamentary panel about efforts to bring back Indians stranded in war-hit Ukraine, including plans for 13 evacuation flights in the next two-three days to its neighbouring countries and subsequent increase in the number of daily flights to nine, sources said.
Around 200 schools in Delhi-NCR on Wednesday morning received a hoax bomb threat via email which led to widespread panic among parents and students, prompting authorities to suspend classes and ask parents to pick their wards from the school.
At the same time, it is learnt that Indian officials in Ukraine are facing growing complexities to evacuate the Indians to the neighbouring countries with Russian forces closing in on Ukrainian capital Kyiv and targeting several other key cities by land and air.
More than 17,000 Indians, mostly students, were evacuated from the war-hit Ukraine under the mission.
Since the onset of monsoon on June 20 to date, rain-related incidents have claimed 23 lives in the state, according to the state emergency operation centre.
It was also decided at the meeting to further enhance cooperation with the neighbouring countries of Ukraine to expedite the evacuation of Indian students, they said.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing that 1,396 Indians were brought back home in six flights in the last few days as part of the evacuation mission.
India is primarily focusing on evacuating its nationals from conflict zones in eastern Ukraine including Kharkiv and Sumy, and that the total number of Indians still stuck in the battle-scarred nation is roughly in the range of 2,000 to 3,000.
SpiceJet, Air India Express and IndiGo will operate special flights from Hungarian capital Budapest and Romania's Bucharest on Monday and Tuesday to evacuate Indians stranded in Ukraine due to the Russian military offensive.
India has launched Operation Ajay to facilitate the return of those who wish to come back home as a series of brazen attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas militants over the weekend triggered fresh tension in the region.
Modi noted that India has always stood for peaceful resolution of issues and direct dialogue between the two parties.
The Supreme Court on Friday took note of the Centre's submission that it has evacuated 17,000 stranded Indians from the conflict zone in Ukraine, saying it appreciated the efforts but was concerned about the anxiety of people.
The IAF is likely to deploy several C-17 aircraft as part of Operation Ganga from Tuesday, they said.
India will conduct nationwide civil defense mock drills on Wednesday, including air-raid warning sirens and training civilians to protect themselves in the event of a "hostile attack." The drills come amid rising tensions with Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack. The Ministry of Home Affairs has instructed all states and union territories to participate in the exercise, which will be conducted up to the village level.
Indian nationals who have reached the Ukraine-Romania border by road will be taken to Bucharest by officials of the Indian government so that they can be evacuated in the two Air India flights, they added.
Tears of joy rolled out of the eyes of parents and family members, some of whom distributed sweets and garlanded their children while others welcomed them with bouquets and hugs after their arrival at gate number 4 and 5 of the Indira Gandhi International airport.
The central government has told the high court that under 'Operation Ganga', in addition to commercial aircrafts, Indian Air Force flights have also been pressed into operation to evacuate the Indians who have crossed into Romania, Poland, Hungary and other neighbouring countries of Ukraine.
The Supreme Court on Monday came to the rescue of 284 students from ethnic violence-hit Manipur by giving them the option of attending classes online at Manipur university or getting relocated to Assam University in Silchar or the North East Hill University in Shillong.
Aircraft pilot-in-command Captain Achint Bhardwaj spoke exclusively to ANI after landing at Delhi Airport and said that all air traffic controls, including that of Pakistan, extended support during the evacuation mission.
With the war in Ukraine entering its 12th day on Monday and tensions between Kyiv and Moscow showing no signs of easing, the students said there is panic in Belarus and their families in India too are concerned about their wellbeing.
Exhausted but elated, around 600 Indian students, who waged a tough battle for survival before being pulled out of war-battered Ukrainian city of Sumy, are now on way to Poland on a train from where they will be flown back home likely on Thursday.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the students were being taken to Poltava, some 175 km south of Sumy, from where they will board trains to western Ukraine.
In a press statement, the foreign ministry here said 10 Nepali nationals lost their lives in the recent attack by Hamas in Israel.
The Indian students who arrived in the city of Bucharest in Romania from Ukraine said that the national tricolour helped them as well as some Pakistani and Turkish students in safely crossing the various checkpoints in the war-torn country.
'There has been no help that has come from the Indian embassy till date. We have no idea when we all will be evacuated.'
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said India has also approached the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva and requested it to be cognizant of the security interests of the Indian citizens and escort them out, wherever possible, when it starts its operation in Ukraine.
"A student from Kyiv was reported to have been shot and was immediately admitted to the hospital in Kyiv," MoS General V K Singh (retd) said.
How to conduct the mock exercise with active public participation of people was discussed threadbare at a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan. Top civil and police officers of the country participated in the meeting, official sources said.
New Delhi
A video of students stranded in the war-hit Ukrainian city of Sumy holding Indian flags and threatening to take up a journey to the Russian border on foot created an uproar in national and international media, which in turn, prompted the Indian authorities to fast-track their evacuation process.
Tamang said, "All schools in Darjeeling will be given relaxation for 12 hours on June 23 to evacuate students from the city."
The two leaders discussed the safe evacuation of Indian nationals from the conflict areas.
'In many cases, I didn't take money because the Indian students had run out of cash.' 'The biggest high was the blessings that these students's parents used to give me on the phone or send messages thanking me on WhatsApp.'
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) held a series of high-level meetings to put into operation certain contingency plans in view of the rapidly changing situation in Ukraine.
'I want to thank the Prime Minister of India for supporting us'
India has begun evacuating them, and 2000 people have been brought back since Saturday.
There is no power, no water supply and shops are refusing to accept cards, even though ATMs have run out of cash, said the Sumy State University student.
Videos of a purported security officer hitting a student had gone viral a couple of days ago as the stranded students tried to reach Ukraine's western borders after Russia launched an invasion of the country.
A video of Tamil Nadu students holed up in some kind of a facility showed a number of youth cramped with their belongings, making the appeal to the government to ensure their safety and take all steps for their early return home.
About 16,000 Indians, mostly students, are stranded in Ukraine as Russia's invasion of the east European country entered its second day on Friday. Of the students, many studying medicine in Kharkiv and Kyiv, about 2,500 are from Gujarat and 2,320 from Kerala.
