Americans can't evacuate citizens; 1396 Indians are back home from Ukraine

In the last few days, a section of people has criticised the central government for leaving Indian nationals in Ukraine to fend for themselves. Even as India's 'Operation Ganga' continues to gather intensity, one needs to check out what the United States has told its citizens point-blank.

The United States, which is one of the major stakeholders in the Russia-Ukraine war, has in its latest advisory told its citizens that their government would not be able to evacuate them from Ukraine.

This, even though it does admit that the security situation throughout Ukraine continues to be unpredictable, with active fighting inside many cities and other locations. What makes the US decision more perplexing is that it expects the conditions to deteriorate in the days to come.

Now contrast this with the response of the Indian government. Since the war broke out in Ukraine, 1396 Indians have been brought home. The Narendra Modi government has dispatched four of its top ministers as special envoys to Ukraine's neighbourhood to ensure that Indians are safely evacuated. These ministers include Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who will be coordinating the evacuation via Romania and Moldova; Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, who will be heading to Slovakia; Petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri, who is headed for Hungary; and MoS Road Transport General VK Singh, who will be coordinating the evacuation via Poland.

Over the next 24 hours, three flights are scheduled to take off for India, including two from Bucharest and one from Budapest. Two of these flights will land in Delhi, while one will arrive in Mumbai.

The Advisory Tone

The United States advisories have been far less helpful for their citizens when compared to India.

The US Embassy's latest statement urges its citizens in Ukraine to depart now using privately available transportation options "if it is safe to do so". Given the circumstances, that scenario is far from reassuring. 

It further says that careful consideration should be made to routes and the risks of travel because Ukraine's roads are in many cases crowded, exposed to combat operations, and infrastructure such as bridges in some locations has been destroyed. 

Now, compare this with the language of the latest advisory shared by the Indian external affairs ministry.

While stating that Ukrainians, both civilian and authorities, have been remarkably supportive in facilitating the evacuation of Indian citizens, the advisory says that "we sincerely request all Indian nations to remain calm, peaceful and united."

Forewarning the citizens that there could be delays in the form of change in train schedules out of Kyiv and long queues, the advisory asked them not to exhibit aggressive behaviour at the railway stations and patiently wait for the special trains being run free of cost by the Ukrainians to evacuate them to western Ukraine.

Still need any more proof of how effectively the Indian government has handled this evacuation operation?

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