Union Min Scindia meets Milisauti city Mayor in Romania; discusses evacuation operations

Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia who is currently in Romania overseeing the evacuation of Indian students amid the Ukraine-Russia war, met Vasile Carare, the Mayor of Milisauti city. The Milisauti city is close to the Romania-Ukraine border and Scindia informed that he met Carare and discussed the evacuation operations led by the local authorities on the ground. He further stated that both sides committed to integrating their efforts with the Indian Embassy for seamless coordination. 

The Union Minister also met and interacted with students in a shelter in Milisauti city. He further hailed the local authorities, the Government of Romania, volunteers and the city mayors for assisting the evacuation of stranded Indian students amid the ongoing war. 

Earlier on Wednesday, Jyotiraditya Scindia met the Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă and extended his gratitude for helping the Indian nationals in the evacuation process. His meeting came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephonic conversation with his Romanian counterpart, and thanked him for helping in the evacuation of Indian students over the last few days. It is pertinent to note that Jyotiraditya Scindia is overseeing the evacuation of Indian students from Romania and Moldova borders.

"I am happy to report that His Excellency has assured his continued support to our students crossing the Romanian borders, and reiterated the friendly relations between our countries since the last 74 years. We also shared mutual interest in expanding bilateral trade given the huge economic potential and presence of Indian businesses in Romania," said Scindia.

Providing an update on the evacuation, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday informed that nearly 17,000 Indian nationals have left the war-torn country. The MEA further stated that a total number of 15 flights have brought back 3,352 Indians to their motherland. The MEA also confirmed that another Indian national, named Chandan Jindal lost his life in Ukraine due to natural causes. 

"There has been a sharp increase in the number of Indians who have left Ukraine. We now estimate that nearly 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine borders since our advisories were issued. During the last 24 hours, 6 flights have landed in India, taking the total number of flights that have landed in India to 15 and the total number of Indians who have returned on these flights to 3,352. As many as 15 flights are scheduled over the next 24 hours. Some of these are already actually enroute. Indian Air Force aircraft have joined Operation Ganga with the first C-17 flight from Bucharest (Romania) expected to return to Delhi later tonight. 3 more IAF flights will be undertaken today from Budapest (Hungary), Bucharest (Romania) and Rzeszow (Poland)," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had announced.

Image: Twitter - @JM_Scindia