Operation Ganga was the most challenging evacuation plan to evacuate Indians from Ukraine amidst the Russian military operation in which more than 20,000 Indians and 147 foreign nationals from 18 countries were evacuated.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was right when he attributed the success of Operation Ganga—the mission to evacuate citizens stranded in war-torn Ukraine. Undoubtedly, the Operation to take out the trapped students from embattled cities Kharkiv, Sumy, and Pisochyn in Ukraine was formidable and challenging. The evacuation of about 20,000 Indians from Ukraine was, undeniably, a gigantic effort of diplomacy and logistics. The extremely delicate evacuation operation needed a lot of dedication and professionalism.

Weathering all the challenges, the teams involved in the mission could make the difficult evacuation possible, with the entire global community appreciating India for all the exemplary efforts. As a result, Ukraine brought welcome relief to their parents and all the citizens of India as well.

However, the entire exercise that preceded their safe evacuation speaks volumes about India’s influence and its tremendous global power that PM Modi referred to. Establishing a humanitarian corridor for the extraction was quite challenging amid Russian shelling at that point of time.

But a massive and powerful diplomatic mission on India’s part resulted in a breakthrough. A phone call from Prime Minister Modi to Russian and Ukrainian Presidents added to diplomatic pressure on Moscow and Kyiv, with both the leaders agreeing to provide safe passage to the students in risk zones. 

The result was seen when Russia announced a temporary halt to the fighting, allowing students to come out of the bunkers to catch whatever mode of transportation was arranged to take them to the bordering areas of neighboring countries.

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