None of the Indians who have arrived from Ukraine have been kept under isolation so far

As India continues its evacuation drive from Ukraine folowing the Russian invasion, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in close collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Home Affairs, revised its international travel advisory on Monday.

The Ministry informed that on humanitarian grounds, it has allowed the following exemptions in the advisory for Indians traveling from Ukraine:

* Indian nationals not fulfilling either of the mandatory requirements (pre-boarding negative RT-PCR test report or fully vaccinated certificate) as laid down in the present ‘Guidelines for International Arrivals’ have been exempted from uploading these documents on Air-Suvidha Portal before departure to India.

* Individuals who have completed their Covid-19 vaccination (irrespective of the country of departure/vaccination) have been allowed to leave the arrival airport in India with the advice to self-monitor their health for the next 14 days.

* In case a traveller is not able to submit a pre-arrival RT PCR test or who has not completed their Covid-19 vaccination, they have been allowed to submit their samples on arrival with the advice to continue to self-monitor their health for 14 days after arrival in India. If tested positive, they shall be clinically managed as per laid down protocol.

A large number of Indian nationals (mainly students) have found themselves entangled in the turmoil after Russia invaded Ukraine last Thursday.

Direct evacuation of these stranded Indians through flights could not be carried out in view of the Notice to Airmen or Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) issued in Ukraine, restricting the use of the country's airspace.

Accordingly, Indian missions in Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary have been making arrangements to get Indian nationals across land borders from Ukraine and fly them out of their respective countries under Operation Ganga flights.

As of Monday morning, 5 flights carrying Indians from Ukraine have arrived in India (one in Mumbai and four in Delhi) ferrying a total of 1156 passengers. None of the passengers have been kept under isolation so far.

EAM S Jaishankar later informed in a tweet that the sixth flight carrying 240 stranded Indian nationals had departed from Hungary’s Budapest for Delhi under Operation Ganga.

India's Ministry of External Affairs had on Sunday created a new Twitter handle dedicated exclusively for 'Operation Ganga' to assist in the evacuation of Indian nationals from Ukraine.

The handle has pinned helpline numbers of 24x7 Control Centres set up to assist in the evacuation of Indian nationals through the border crossing points with Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Slovak Republic.