Smriti Irani welcomes back Indian nationals from Ukraine in their mother tongue - WATCH

The Union Minister welcomed back 218 citizens who boarded the special flight from Poland's Bucharest.

New Delhi: Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Smriti Irani on Wednesday (March 2) received the Indian nationals who were stranded in Ukraine after they returned on a special flight from Poland.

Irani welcomed back 218 citizens, who boarded from Bucharest, by speaking in their regional languages. 

"Welcome back home! Your families are waiting with bated breath. You have shown exemplary courage...Let`s thank the flight crew as well...," she told the students through the Public Address System of the special IndiGo flight.

India welcomes back her children. #OperationGanga pic.twitter.com/GN9134IMed — Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) March 2, 2022

Irani added that she is grateful to our airline crew and pilots for their service and support to Narendra Modi-led Government's efforts in bringing our citizens back home.

Grateful to our airline crew and pilots for their service and support to Government’s efforts in bringing our citizens back home. #OperationGanga pic.twitter.com/Q9uUcRP0uA — Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) March 2, 2022

Meanwhile, another flight from Bucharest carrying 183 Indians stranded in Ukraine has landed in Mumbai on Thursday morning. Union minister Raosaheb Danve welcomed passengers of the third evacuation flight from Bucharest to Mumbai

Around four to five thousand Indians have been brought home so far and the mission, named Operation Ganga, will continue to bring back those still stranded in Ukraine and neighbouring countries. 

It is noteworthy that the Russian forces had launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after President Vladimir Putin recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities. Fighting in Ukraine has so far pushed more than 5,00,000 people across the country's borders, the UN refugee agency has said.

(With agency inputs)