15-20 Indians want to leave Ukraine, being provided all help: MEA

There are 15-20 Indians in war-hit Ukraine who want to leave and are being provided all help, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday, asserting that the "Operation Ganga" is still on.

At a media briefing here, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said it is a war situation but "we will keep doing what we can to evacuate those who want to come".

"Till about three days ago, there were about 50 Indians who were there. Our assessment is that there are 15-20 people who want to leave that country. The others who are there do not want to leave right now. We are providing as much help as possible to them," Bagchi said.

Noting that over 22,500 Indians have been brought back from the east European country, he said there are still people in isolated pockets and "this is an evolving situation".

"We are in contact with all Indians who are there," he added.

The Indian embassy is providing as much help as possible to them, Bagchi said.

Asked about the three Indians evacuated recently via Moscow from Ukraine's southern region of Kherson, he said the focus is on evacuating Indians and any route could be taken for that.

He said there are some more people in Kherson that the ministry is aware of and if they want to take this route that was taken and it remains open, it can be tried.

"Many people have said the Operation Ganga has come to an end. It is not so. Those who want to be evacuated, we are helping them through our embassy operating from Warsaw (in Poland)," the MEA spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, asked about his reaction to criticism of India in Pakistan on the movie, "The Kashmir Files", Bagchi replied, "I don't react to it, it is a movie made, people are free to comment on it. It shows developments in our country that happened over a certain point of time. I am not even sure it is a foreign policy issue on which I need to comment."

"Pakistan makes various allegations which on almost all occasions are either not correct or completely unfounded or are interference in our internal affairs. I have not seen the specific comment so I am not going to comment on that," he said.