New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting Monday morning to discuss the safety and evacuation of stranded citizens in Ukraine.
This was Modi’s second meeting in less than 24 hours to evaluate the progress of rescuing citizens from the conflict-torn country.
It was decided that Union ministers Hardeep Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and General (retd) VK Singh would travel to Ukraine’s neighbouring countries to coordinate the evacuation.
These men will travel as special envoys of India.
Meanwhile, curfew has been lifted in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. The Indian embassy soon tweeted that students should head towards railway stations and move to the west of the country.
Weekend curfew lifted in Kyiv. All students are advised to make their way to the railway station for onward journey to the western parts.
Ukraine Railways is putting special trains for evacuations.
— India in Ukraine (@IndiainUkraine) February 28, 2022
Nearly 20,000 Indian nationals were in Ukraine at the time of Russia’s invasion.
Only a few anticipated the imminent attack and were able to fly out before Ukraine shut its airspace on Thursday, government sources said.
Around 16,000 students are still believed to be stuck in the country, hiding in hostel basements and bomb shelters, they added.
Opposition parties have shared videos of scared students appealing to the government to be taken out of Ukraine.
Modi also held a meeting Sunday evening with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and other top officials to review the evacuation process.
India’s multi-pronged rescue mission — ‘Operation Ganga’ — has so far brought back nearly 1,000 people from Ukraine. The sixth rescue flight took off from Budapest Monday with 240 Indian nationals onboard.
PM Modi has also held separate conversations with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, urging them to diffuse tension, stressing on the fact that India’s primary interest remains the safe evacuation of its citizens from Ukraine.
Also read: PM Modi to hold high-level meeting on Ukraine crisis