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.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla gave a detailed presentation to the parliamentary standing committee on external affairs on the situation in Ukraine following a Russian military offensive and India's efforts to evacuate its citizens, they said.

For evacuation of Indian nationals through land borders with five neighbouring countries- Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Moldova - Russian-speaking officers from the ministry of external affairs here have been sent to the border check-posts and Indian embassies in these countries to boost evacuation efforts.

The agenda of the parliamentary panel chaired by BJP leader P P Chaudhary was to deliberate on the ministry's Demand for Grants for the financial year 2022-23, but it took up the crisis in Ukraine following a written notice of RSP MP NK Premchandran and request of other MPs.

Briefing the committee members about Operation Ganga launched by the government to rescue Indian nationals, including students, from Ukraine, Shringla and other external affairs ministry officials informed the panel that around 13 flights are expected to be operated in the next two-three days.

Systematic planning is being done to evacuate citizens and the ministry is working to multi-fold increase the number of daily flights to evacuate stranded Indians, to around nine, according to sources.

Shringla told the committee that so far around 1,200 students had returned in five flights. Several thousand others had crossed the Ukrainian border or were in the process of doing so, the sources said.

The committee was also briefed on the measures being taken by the government to work with the International Committee of the Red Cross in ensuring the safety of Indian nationals in Ukraine, they said.
The Committee unanimously appreciated the measures being taken by the government for its Operation Ganga to bring Indian nationals, particularly students, back from Ukraine, the sources said.

Some panel members also enquired about India's position on the conflict at the international level and were informed that at the UN Security Council, India had asked for an immediate cessation of violence and hostilities.

India had also called for a return to diplomacy and dialogue and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, the sources added.

Talking about stranded students, officials informed the panel that three advisories were issued, but the students were reluctant to leave as they did not want to miss their exams, the sources said.

At a media briefing, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India hopes to evacuate its citizens from Kharkiv and Pisochyn in the next few hours. "Our main focus is now on evacuating Indian students from Sumy. We are exploring multiple options for their evacuation," he said.

Bagchi also reiterated India's call to Russia and Ukraine to go for a local ceasefire so that the Indians can be taken out of the conflict zones. "Our challenge in the evacuation of the Indians from Sumy is ongoing shelling and violence and lack of transportation," Bagchi said. On the overall evacuation mission, he said over 13,300 people have been brought back home in 63 flights.