Indian Mission in Slovakia moves officials near Ukraine border
Darpan News Desk IANS, 25 Feb, 2022 01:35 PM
New Delhi, Feb 25 (IANS) The Indian Embassy in Slovakia has moved all its senior staff members to the border areas with Ukraine to facilitate crossing of Indian nationals from the war-hit country to Slovakia.
"From Thursday afternoon, the Embassy of India in Bratislava has stationed officials at the Slovak-Ukraine border to provide essential assistance to India nationals who might cross over to Slovakia," the Embassy stated.
The Embassy also released numbers of the officials for the stranded nationals -- Manoj Kumar, Consular Officer is available on +421908025212, while Ivan Kozinka is available on +421908458724. Apart from them, few more officials have been moved.
India is working out evacuation plans for Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine through Romania, Hungary and Poland.
"Slovakia at this point of time is not yet a designated evacuation point. However, we are ready to provide assistance to Indian nationals in Ukraine who may come to Slovakia," said the Embassy.
On Thursday, India's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had stated that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has spoken to the concerned officials in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia for setting up camps on the border areas for evacuation of stranded Indian nationals.
The Foreign Secretary also stated that flight options will available from Dubai and Istanbul and the Indian Embassy continues to be operational in Ukraine.
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The Biden administration has kept in place travel restrictions that have severely curtailed international trips to the U.S., citing the spread of the delta variant of the virus. Under the rules, non-U.S. residents who have been to China, the European Schengen area, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, South Africa and India in the prior 14 days are prohibited from entering the U.S.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control last week warned the Delta variant of the virus is so contagious, vaccinated people who do get infected could be just as big a risk to others as people who aren't vaccinated.
The new requirement, which will be phased in over several weeks in August and September, is the most aggressive step the city has taken yet to curb a surge in cases caused by the delta variant.
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