Union Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi on Monday attributed the success of 'Operation Ganga' — the mission to evacuate Indian citizens stranded in war-torn Ukraine — to India's diplomacy.
The Minister was speaking at the India Global Forum's annual summit on the topic 'The changing face of global diplomacy' here.
"Operation Ganga is something which I think in today's time and age is one of the largest operations which the Government of India has undertaken. There were close to 20,000 plus Indian nationals stuck in Ukraine and we have extracted above 10,000 people and brought them to Delhi or Mumbai or other parts of the country" Lekhi said.
Responding to a query on Operation Ganga, she said the operation is still on, and many people have been evacuated and brought to western neighbours of Ukraine like Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Slovakia, and Poland, and from there they are being brought back home by flights.
Noting that people are being brought back in 10 to 15 flights, "which is unlike anybody else", the Minister said, "more than comparing with anybody else, the government feels it is its responsibility to reach out to its people who are stranded in need of support". "All our friends are helping us in evacuation. That's what I believe diplomacy stands for.. you get other people to understand your point of view and get them to assist you in what you wish to achieve," she added.
To another question on diplomacy on social media, Lekhi said diplomacy in old times used to be done behind closed doors, but today it is being done amongst the people, in public.
"We (India) have used the forum (social media) to our advantage, if the government need to issue advisories, we immediately put it out on social media to reach out to people stranded and showed them the way, and people also reach out to us with their concern," she said, cautioning that there is always a danger of fake news or false propaganda on social media.
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