Govt To Bear Travel Expenses Of Indians Stranded In Ukraine: Report

The Narendra Modi-led government on Friday announced that evacuations flights for stranded Indian nationals in Ukraine was being arranged and all travel expenses will be paid by the Centre, sources said.

New Delhi: The Narendra Modi-led government is making all efforts to arrange evacuations flights for stranded Indian nationals in Ukraine and all travel expenses will be paid by the Centre, sources were quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

“The government of India will arrange evacuation flights for Indian nationals in Ukraine, cost will be borne by the government,” sources told ANI.

Earlier, India issued fresh advisory to stranded citizens and said the government is working on evacuation routes from Kyiv’s land borders with Hungary and Romania. According to the advisory, the government has urged Indians stranded in Ukraine to carry “passport, cash – preferably in USD, double COVID vaccine certificate”. The stranded citizens were also asked to carry take a “printout of Indian national flag and paste prominently of vehicles and buses while travelling”.

“Govt of India and Embassy of India working to establish evacuation routes from Romania and Hungary. At present, teams are getting in place at CHOP-ZAHONY Hungarian border near Uzhhorod, PORUBNE-SIRET Romanian Border near Chernivtsi,” the Indian Embassy in Hungary’s Budapest said in a statement.

India’s advisory to stranded citizens – Key Points

• Carry passport, cash preferably in USD for any emergency expenses and other essentials
• COVID double vaccination certificate if available
• Printout of Indian national flag and paste prominently of vehicles and buses while travelling

India is focusing on evacuating the Indians through Ukraine’s land borders with Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Romania as the Ukrainian government closed the country’s airspace following the Russian military offensive.

Government officials said Air India is planning to operate two flights to the Romanian capital Bucharest on Friday to evacuate some of the Indians.