Indian citizens are located all over the world. So, in a situation of war, what do you think happens to the various students or on-site workers in other countries? The Indian Government comes to their rescue of course. This time in Ukraine, after the attack by Russians, the Indian Government launched Operation Ganga. There is also a dedicated Twitter handle,' OpGanga Helpline' to assist the Indians to evacuate safely from Ukraine. This is not the first such operation carried out by the Government. There have been more such like the one carried out in Kuwait. That was the first famous Airlift by the Government of India. Let us read below what Operation Ganga is and what are the various evacuation operations carried out by the Indian Government over many years.
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What is Operation Ganga?
Operation Ganga is being carried out to bring back all the Indians from Ukraine in these times of war. There are almost 20,000 Indian citizens residing in Ukraine. Till now more than 1000 citizens have been airlifted back to India.
List of Evacuation Operations carried out by India:
| Year | Operation's Name | Event details |
| 2022 | Operation Ganga | An evacuation mission to bring back all the Indian citizens currently stranded in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine are currently at war. Russian military launched a series of attacks in Ukraine recently. |
| 2020 | Vande Bharat | During the initial phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Centre launched the Vande Bharat Mission to bring back Indian citizens stuck in foreign countries. About 60 lakh Indians were brought back as of 30th April 2021 in multiple phases. |
| 2020 | Operation Samudra Setu | It was a naval operation to bring home Indian citizens from other countries during the Covid-19 pandemic. 3,992 Indian citizens were brought back to their homeland by sea through this mission. Indian Naval ships Jalashwa (Landing Platform Dock), and Airavat, Shardul and Magar (Landing Ship Tanks) were used in this operation. It lasted over 55 days and involved traversing more than 23,000 km by sea. |
| 2016 | Evacuation from Brussels | In March 2016, Belgium was hit by terrorist strikes at Brussels Airport in Zaventem, and one at Maalbeek Metro station in central Brussels. A total of 242 Indians, including 28 crew members, returned to India in a Jet Airways flight. |
| 2015 | Operation Raahat | In 2015, a conflict raged between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels. Thousands of Indians were stranded and Yemen was not accessible by air due to a no-fly zone announced by Saudi Arabia. Under Operation Raahat, India evacuated nearly 5,600 people from Yemen. |
| 2015 | Operation Maitri | It is the joint relief and rescue operation by the Indian government and the Indian Armed forces in the aftershock of the 2015 Nepal earthquake. The joint Army-Air Force operation brought over 5,000 Indians back from Nepal by Air Force and civilian planes. The Indian army successfully evacuated 170 foreign nationals from the US, the UK, Russia and Germany. |
| 2011 | Operation Safe Homecoming | India launched ‘Operation Homecoming’ to bring back Indian citizens stranded in conflict-torn Libya. Under the operation, India evacuated 15,400 Indian nationals. The air-sea operation was conducted by the Indian Navy and Air India. |
| 2006 | Operation Sukoon | It was when Israel and Lebanon broke into military conflict in July 2006. India rescued its stranded citizens by launching this operation. It is famously known as the ‘Beirut Sealift’. It was the largest naval rescue mission since the 'Dunkirk' evacuation at that time. The task force evacuated about 2,280 people including some Nepalese and Sri Lankan citizens as well. It took place between 19th July and 1st August 2006. |
| 1990 | Kuwait Airlift | In 1990, 1,00,000 Iraqi soldiers armed with 700 tanks marched into Kuwait overnight. The royals and VIPs fled to Saudi Arabia leaving the citizens at the mercy of intruders. Over 1,70,000 of those stranded in Kuwait were Indians. India kicked off the evacuation process in which over 1,70,000 Indians were airlifted and repatriated to India. A Bollywood movie was made on the same issue. |
So, all the Indians who are stuck abroad must never feel lonely and must immediately contact the Indian embassy at the time of need. You must not forget that even though not in India, you are still very much an Indian.
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