Nwe Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked Indian Air Force to assist in evacuating nationals from war-torn Ukraine, sources said today.
"Leveraging the capacities of our Air Force will ensure that more people can be evacuated in a shorter time frame. It will also help deliver humanitarian aid more efficiently," sources told NDTV.
Indian Air Force is expected to deploy several C-17 aircraft as part of Operation Ganga from today.
Earlier today, a flight carrying 182 Indians landed in Mumbai. The flight flew out of Romanian capital Bucharest, as Ukraine has closed its airspace.
At least two other evacuation flights will bring back Indians today - one from Bucharest and one from Hungary's capital Budapest.
PM Modi has also spoken to his counterparts in Romania and the Slovak Republic, Ukraine's neighbouring countries from where India is planning to evacuate its citizens, about evacuation efforts from their countries.
On Monday, the government said that of the estimated 20,000 Indian nationals who were present in Ukraine about 8,000 have left the country since its first advisory earlier this month.