Operation Ganga was an evacuation mission (type: act) launched by the Government of India to rescue its citizens, predominantly students, who were stranded in Ukraine following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The operation was planned by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Armed Forces and officially began on February 26, 2022, with the objective of evacuating Indian nationals. The problem it solved was the immediate danger to approximately 20,000 Indian nationals, mostly students, trapped in the war zone after Ukraine's airspace closed.
The mechanism involved citizens first crossing the land borders into Ukraine's neighboring countries: Romania, Hungary, Poland, Moldova, and Slovakia. From these countries, the evacuees were flown back to India using a combined civil and military effort. Key provisions included the deployment of four Union Ministers—Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju, and V.K. Singh—to the neighboring countries to coordinate with local authorities. The operation utilized multiple private Indian airlines, including Air India, IndiGo, and SpiceJet, alongside the Indian Air Force's C-17 Globemaster aircraft, which also delivered humanitarian aid to Ukraine. By March 11, 2022, the main phase of the operation was largely complete, having evacuated about 25,000 Indian nationals and 147 citizens of 18 other countries.
Operation Ganga connects to a history of similar Indian evacuation missions, such as Operation Sukoon (2006, Lebanon), Operation Safe Homecoming (2011, Libya), and Operation Devi Shakti (2021, Afghanistan). It also exemplifies the concept of the Indian government's commitment to the welfare of its diaspora, which is supported by mechanisms like the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF). The operation has not been replaced or amended, but it showcased an evolution in India's crisis response by deploying high-level ministers to the field and utilizing both civil and military assets for a large-scale, time-sensitive evacuation.