India’s global influence and strength have diminished under the Narendra Modi government as it has been incapable of safely evacuating Indians from Ukraine after the Russian invasion, the Congress said on Friday.
Party general secretary Ajay Maken, at a press conference, appealed to the government to deploy special flights and evacuate free of cost all Indians, primarily students studying in different parts of Ukraine.
Mr. Maken said air fares had increased four to five times, yet planes to Ukraine had to return midway as the Ukrainian airspace has been closed for civil aircraft operations since Thursday morning.
“This proves that India’s influence and strength at the international level have diminished under the BJP, considering that it is unable and not capable to safely evacuate its citizens,” he said.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi also tweeted, “This government’s strategic mistakes will prove to be very costly”.
The Congress leader also shared screenshots of headlines of media reports that quoted him as saying in the Lok Sabha that the Modi government’s strategic mistakes brought China and Pakistan together, China helping Pakistan to build bridges with Russia, and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar saying India’s relations with China was going through “very difficult times”.
Targeting the Prime Minister on Twitter, Congress whip in the Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore said Mr. Modi had deserted small enterprises during the demonetisation exercise, and the poor during the coronavirus lockdown. “Sahib now leaving students Ram Bharose in Ukraine as sitting targets because he can’t request Putin for a simple airlift?” Mr Tagore tweeted.
On Thursday, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had said that there were around 20,000 Indians in Ukraine. Nearly 4,000 of them had returned to India in the last few days and efforts were on to ensure the safe return of the other students.
