India to help people from neighbouring countries stuck in Ukraine
Darpan News Desk IANS, 28 Feb, 2022 01:05 PM
New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while chairing the third high-level meeting on the Ukraine situation on Monday evening, pointed out that the visit of four senior ministers as the government's special envoys to various nations will energise the evacuation efforts.
The move is reflective of the priority the government attaches to this matter, Modi said.
Also, guided by India's motto of the world being one family, the Prime Minister said that India will help people from neighbouring countries and developing nations who are stranded in Ukraine, seeking assistance.
Chairing the high-level meeting, his second of the day, to review the ongoing efforts under 'Operation Ganga' to bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine, Modi said that the entire government machinery has been working round-the-clock to ensure that all Indian nationals are safe and secure in Ukraine.
The Prime Minister further noted that the first consignment of relief supplies to Ukraine to deal with the humanitarian crisis there would be despatched on Tuesday.
This was the third review meeting in the last 24 hours on the situation in Ukraine.
The Prime Minister was briefed that around 1,400 Indian nationals have arrived from Ukraine so far by six flights from Budapest (Hungary) and Bucharest (Romania), while 182 more will reach Mumbai early on Tuesday morning.
Modi was also briefed that a new route to exit through Moldova has been identified and to facilitate the entry of the Indians into this country, proper arrangements are being made by the Indian Embassy staff in Romania.
Modi directed the MEA officials to make proper arrangements for the students who are moving to Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania till they depart for India.
Union Ministers S. Jaishankar, Hardeep Singh Puri, General (Retd) V.K. Singh, Kiren Rijiju, Piyush Goyal, and Jyotiraditya Scindia, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister P.K. Mishra, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and other officials were present in the meeting.
On Monday morning, Modi chaired a high-level meeting where he was updated about the progress of the evacuation mission under 'Operation Ganga', wherein it was decided that four Union ministers will go as special envoys to the neighbouring countries of Ukraine to oversee the evacuation process.
According to the officials, Jyotiraditya Scindia will be going to Romania and Moldova, Kiren Rijiju to Slovakia, Hardeep Singh Puri to Hungary and V.K. Singh will be going to Poland.
There are currently 14 major medical colleges in Ukraine in which more than 18,000 Indian students are pursuing MBBS and BDS courses. Out of these, about 1,000 have returned home while efforts are on to bring back the rest.
Modi thanked Heger for the assistance provided by Slovakia in the evacuation of Indian citizens from Ukraine, and for permitting special evacuation flights from India. He asked for Slovakia's continued assistance in the next few days with India undertaking a mission to evacuate other citizens from conflict zones.
Sidhu has urged the apex court not to punish him with a jail term in a 1988 road rage case in which he was let off with a meagre fine of Rs 1,000. Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing Gurnam Singh's family, submitted that he has moved an application seeking enlargement of the scope of the notice issued.
With Ukraine closing its airspace after Russia launched a military operation in the country on Thursday, the Indian Embassy in Kiev has asked the Indian nationals to start moving towards the bordering areas so that they can be evacuated safely.
The Indian Embassy in Kiev stated that the helpline numbers are being set up at the respective check-points to facilitate evacuation through the borders. These control rooms will be based in Poland, Romania and Hungary and they will be managed by the Indian officials posted in those countries.
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.
