Operation Ganga

In news– The Government of India has launched Operation Ganga to bring back Indians stranded in the war hit Ukraine recently.

About the Operation-

India operated its first evacuation flight under Operation Ganga and brought back 219 Indians from Romania’s capital Bucharest to Mumbai.
The second evacuation flight carrying 250 nationals landed in Delhi.
The third flight evacuated 240 Indians from Hungarian capital Budapest, whereas the fourth and fifth flight flew 198 and 249 more passengers from Bucharest to Delhi.

Even as Air India flights were being used to carry out the rescue initiative, Spicejet, Indigo and Air India Express have now joined the mission.

Under this, India has already successfully brought back more than a 1,000 of its nationals from the country.
It has also set up 24×7 control centres to assist in the evacuation of Indians through the border crossing points with Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovak Republic.
A Twitter handle, ‘OpGanga Helpline’, has also been dedicated to the mission, where all information regarding evacuation process and advisories of embassies are shared to keep everyone up-to-date.

India’s major evacuation operations-

Operation Devi Shakti: An evacuation operation by the Indian Armed Forces (IAF) was kicked off in August 2021 to safely bring back Indian nationals from Afghanistan after the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the fall of Kabul, the capital city of the Taliban.
Vande Bharat Mission: Special flights were operated across the globe in this mission to bring back the nationals who were left stranded in foreign countries due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Wuhan Airlift: In one of the most difficult evacuation flights, India airlifted its citizens safe from China’s coronavirus-hit city Wuhan in January 2020.
Operation Samudra Setu: It was a naval operation launched on May 5, 2020 as part of the national effort to bring home Indian citizens from overseas during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Operation Maitri: The government of India carried out this mission to safely bring the nationals from Nepal after the deadly earthquake in 2015.
Operation Raahat: Hundreds of Indians and other nationals were rescued under this operation during the unrest at Yemen’s capital Sana’a after the complete takeover by Houthi rebel fighters in January 2015.
Operation Safe Homecoming: The Indian government launched this operation to rescue over 15,000 Indian national stranded in Libya, which was in the midst of a civil war.
Operation Sukoon: As Israel and Lebanon broke into military conflict in July 2006, the Government of India rescued its stranded citizens by launching ‘Operation Sukoon’, which is now famously known as the ‘Beirut Sealift’.
Operation Amnesty Airlift: The mission was carried out in September 1996 to bring back the Indian nationals who did not have valid permits from the United Arab Emirates.
Kuwait Airlift: In one of the most massive operations in Indian history, the Indian Air Force joined hands with Air India in airlifting stranded Indian nationals in Kuwait in August 1990. Nearly 170, 000 citizens were safely airlifted in this operation which was carried out just before the Persian Gulf war in 1990.