Foreign ministers of India, Ukraine discuss ongoing crisis
Darpan News Desk IANS, 25 Feb, 2022 02:21 PM
New Delhi, Feb 25 (IANS) External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba on Friday discussed the prevailing situation in the east European country which is under attack from Russia, along with the measures to evacuate stranded Indian nationals from there.
"Received call from Ukrainian FM @DmytroKuleba. He shared his assessment of the current situation. I emphasised that India supports diplomacy and dialogue as the way out," Jaishankar tweeted.
The minister also stated that they discussed the predicament of Indian nationals, including students.
"Appreciate his support for their safe return," Jaishankar said.
Earlier in the day, US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, spoke to Jaishankar and called for collective response over the ongoing crisis.
Blinken tweeted, "Spoke with @DrSJaishankar today about the crisis in Ukraine and the importance of a strong collective response to Russian aggression. Russia's attack on Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity is a clear violation of the rules-based international order."
The spokesperson for the US Secretary of State, Ned Price, said, "Antony Blinken spoke with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar today to discuss Russia's premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine."
Price also stated that Blinken stressed the importance of a strong, collective response to condemn Russia's invasion and call for immediate force withdrawal and ceasefire.
On Thursday, India's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had stated that Jaishankar has spoken to concerned officials in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia for setting up camps on the border areas for evacuation of stranded Indian nationals.
India is working out evacuation plans through Romania, Hungary and Poland, after Ukraine shut its airspace soon after the Russian military operation began on Thursday.
The Minister while addressing the inaugural session of 'Connect Karo 2021 - Towards Equitable, Sustainable Indian Cities' event, said that there can be no doubt that India's cities "enabled by citizen-centric infrastructure and transformational technology" will be the key to achieving the nation's development objectives.
Meanwhile, India logged 27,254 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours. The country also reported 219 Covid deaths in the same time span. The country presently has nearly 3.75 lakh active cases.
At a virtual Covid-19 review meeting, the Chief Minister said vaccine effectiveness is evident from the data being analysed. Special efforts were made to reach out to the government employees, and those who continue to avoid getting vaccinated will now be asked to go on leave till they get the first dose.
DGP Dinkar Gupta said with the case load decreasing, people had started being lax about wearing masks, which the Health Department should strictly enforce with the help of the police.
Additional Chief Secretary Devendra Singh and Deputy Commissioner of Karnal Nishant Yadav are participating in the meeting. From the farmers side, BKU president Gurunam Singh Chaduni and the state leadership will present their demands.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Balbir Singh Rajewal told the media here after the day-long deliberations with the political parties, except the BJP, that they had told the political parties not to hold big rallies till elections in the state are announced.
