Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Wednesday slammed Opposition parties, who accused the Indian government of delaying the evacuation process of Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine.
After welcoming 251 students who returned from Ukraine on an Air India flight today, Shekhawat told ANI, "The government is doing its duty. Even before this, there have been governments in the country for many decades and such situations have come up many times in the world. Opposition leaders should introspect had they performed in the past when they were in power."
"It would not be possible to find political ground only by criticizing. When you had the opportunity, what did you do for the people of the country? You should have thought and act on this," he added.
While giving assurances on behalf of the government, he said every Indian will be evacuated safely from Ukraine.
"This is the Narendra Modi government, whether Indians are trapped in Ukraine, or in Yemen or whether Indians are in trouble in any other country of the world, our government will always stand with them. Today I would like to remember former External Affairs Minister Late Sushma Swaraj, who once in a tweet said that if India's son is on the moon and holds a blue passport, I will bring him out. Every BJP leader believes in this vision and passion under the leadership of PM Modi," said the Union Minister.
On the question on the completion of Operation Ganga, he said that no date can be fixed in such a situation but until we bring back the last Indian the operation will continue.
Operation Ganga has been started by the Government of India to bring back the Indian citizens trapped in Ukraine.
Apart from civil airlines, the Indian Air Force has also been roped in the ongoing Operation Ganga, so that all Indians can be brought home safely.
Along with this, four central government ministers Kiren Rijiju, Hardeep Singh Puri, General VK Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia have been sent to different countries sharing the border with Ukraine, so that they can speed up this operation by establishing better coordination with the authorities.
Under Operation Ganga, Air India flight 1946 landed in India, carrying 251 students stranded in Ukraine from Bucharest at 9.30 am.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor