Modi chairs high-level meeting on Ukraine, reviews evacuation mission
Darpan News Desk IANS, 01 Mar, 2022 06:08 PM
New Delhi, March 1 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday evening chaired a high-level meeting to review the progress of evacuation of stranded Indian nationals from war-hit Ukraine under 'Operation Ganga'.
It was the third meeting held on the matter in the last 24 hours, and the fourth since Sunday evening.
The meeting began with the participants expressing grief over the sad demise of Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagoudar, a medical student from Karnataka who died in Russian shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday.
According to sources, Modi was briefed about the evacuation status and was informed that over 1,750 Indian students have returned to the country so far.
He was also informed that Union ministers Hardeep Singh Puri, Kiren Rijiju and General (Retd) V.K. Singh have flown to Budapest (Hungary), Warsaw (Poland) and Bratislava (Slovakia), respectively, as the government's special envoys to oversee the evacuation efforts, while Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia left for Bucharest (Romania) by an Air India flight on Tuesday evening.
It has been learnt that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishakar briefed the Prime Minister about the ramped up efforts of the government for evacuation works in the last 24 hours, while Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla updated Modi about the arrangements made by the Indian Embassies in Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Poland, all bordering Ukraine.
Modi had asked the MEA officials to make proper arrangements in the adjoining border points with Ukraine for the students coming to these countries from the war-hit nation.
The sources also said that Modi discussed what could be the possible ways to rescue the Indians stuck in Kharkiv, another important town after the capital city of Kiev.
As of now, thousands of Indians, including students, are still stuck in Kharkiv and the Russian army has scaled up attacks on both Kiev and Kharkiv.
Modi was also informed that a new route to exit through Moldova has been identified, and to facilitate the entry of the Indians into this country, proper arrangements have been made by the Indian Embassy staff in Romania.
The Prime Minister is personally monitoring the evacuation efforts of the government, taking updates from the MEA at regular intervals.
After the death of the medical student from Karnataka in Kharkiv on Tuesday, the Prime Minister got a call from the President of European Council, Charles Michel, who extended condolences over the tragic incident and assured support for the evacuation mission.
Jaishankar, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Principal Secretary to PM, P.K. Mishra, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs were present at the meeting.
Canadian MP Tim S. Uppal said he was shocked to learn about the brazen attack on protesting farmers. Another Canadian MP Ruby Sahota said she was heartbroken to learn about the violence directed at protesting farmers.
The demand made by citizens primarily mirrored their right to clean air and the right to breathe, underlining the reality that Punjab is home to some of India's most polluted towns, including Mandi Gobindgarh, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Khanna, and Patiala.
The case was assigned to the division bench of Justices A.G. Masih and Ashok Kumar Verma. Earlier, the case was being heard by the bench of Justices Rajan Gupta and Ajay Tewari but the latter recused himself from hearing the case on September 1.
Furnishing details about the incident, Additional DCP-2 Nishant Gupta told IANS that they had received information about a firing incident in the northeast Delhi area on October 1.
The activists of Punjab Congress will walk towards Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh if Priyanka Gandhi is not released and the Union Minister's son accused of murder not arrested, said state party President Navjot Sidhu on Tuesday.
Referring to police action against protesting farmers in Congress-ruled Rajasthan, the BJP leader said, "Congress leaders who are very keen to visit Lakhimpur Kheri have not uttered a single word against police lathicharge on farmers in Hanumangarh, Rajasthan."
