Chandrababu Naidu urges Centre to increase flights to bring back students

Vijayawada: TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday urged external affairs minister S Jaishankar to take steps for speedy evacuation of the stranded Telugu people in the war-torn Ukraine and along its border countries.

In a letter to the Union minister here, Naidu stressed on the need for an increased number of flights to bring back the stranded people. Lauding the efforts made so far, Naidu said, "It is heart-warming to note the stupendous efforts put forth by you, your team and colleagues to bring back the stranded Indians in Ukraine. The Government of India has till now brought our people back home only through Bucharest and Budapest airports i.e., Romania and Hungary respectively. There are several people that have crossed the Ukraine border and are waiting to fly back home."

Chandrababu Naidu told Jaishankar that in the light of increased number of Telugu people along with other fellow Indians at various border points, the following requests may be considered. Increase the number of flights evacuating Indians. These flights may be operated from other border countries of Ukraine like Slovakia, Moldova and Poland so that the Government of India-run flights can cater to more people.

The TDP chief said currently, all flights carrying Indians are terminating at Mumbai or Delhi. Considering the huge number of Telugu people, it is requested to operate flights till Hyderabad, Tirupati, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.