New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke to the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Eduard Heger, over phone and discussed the evacuation of Indian nationals starnded in war-torn Ukraine.
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.
Modi also informed Heger about the deployment of Union minister Kiren Rijiju as India's special envoy to oversee the evacuation efforts in Slovakia.
The Prime Minister also expressed his anguish at the ongoing violence and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, and reiterated India's consistent appeal for cessation of hostilities and a return to dialogue.
Modi stressed upon the importance of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations.
The SKM also reiterated that the name, banner or platform of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha will not be used by any political party or candidate in the run-up to the Assembly polls in Punjab, scheduled on February 20.
Appearing for the Punjab government, Senior Advocate P. Chidambaram argued that Majithia has gone into hiding after the rejection of his bail plea in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and now he is appearing through counsel.
Interestingly, the move comes a week after neighbouring Madhya Pradesh permitted liquor sales at all its airports, select supermarkets in four major cities and also allowed issuing home bar licences to those earning Rs 1 crore or more annually.
The incident took place on Wednesday and the accused are said to be illicit liquor sellers in the area. It has been alleged that the woman was also gang-raped. A video of the incident showed the woman being attacked.
Both Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu have urged Rahul Gandhi to announce a CM face well ahead of the polls, instead of going with the collective leadership.
The ministry of external affairs organised the summit virtually on Thursday which was attended by the heads of all five Central Asian countries -- Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Republic of Uzbekistan.
