Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his second meeting on the Ukraine crisis in a day on Monday evening, said that the Indian government would extend help in evacuating those from India’s neighbourhood and from developing countries that find themselves stranded in war-torn Ukraine after Russia’s attack on that country. He also said that the first batch of humanitarian aid to Ukraine will also be dispatched as early Tuesday morning.
PM Modi also spoke with H.E. Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă, Prime Minister of Romania and Eduard Heger, PM of the Slovak Republic, thanking both leaders in helping to evacuate of Indian citizens from Ukraine and for permitting special evacuation flights under Operation Ganga
A statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said: “Guided by India’s motto of the world being one family, PM Narendra Modi stated that India will help people from neighbouring countries and developing countries who are stranded in Ukraine and seek assistance.”
Sources said that this was done as many reports said that many citizens from countries in the sub continent and other non European nations including were stranded at the borders of Ukraine, and needed to aided. Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Modi, had announced that four ministers- Hardeep Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and General (Retd) V K Singh will be sent to the countries of Hungary, Romania and Moldova, Slovakia and Poland, respectively, to help ease any red tape in the evacuation operation.
“Following a request from the Ambassador of Ukraine, India will send humanitarian assistance including medicines Ukraine,” said Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs. The issue of humanitarian assistance was raised by the Ukrainian ambassador Igor Polikha in an interaction with Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Sunday. “I was assured by Foreign Secretary Shringla that the request for humanitarian assistance would be addressed very quickly,” Mr. Polikha told The Hindu. Indian officials did not specify the timeline of the delivery of the humanitarian consignment but maintained that the Ukrainian side urgently requires several items like medicines and critical care items and has handed over a list to the Indian side. Earlier in the day, Ambassador Polikha addressed the media and urged parents and family members of Indian students to not panic saying the reports of Ukrainian soldiers and border guards misbehaving with Indian students are not correct. “Please do not listen to these fake information and avoid sensationalising a tragedy. We are the victims of an invasion by the Russians and the situation is extremely difficult. There are long queues in border crossings (with Poland and Romania). Pregnant children and even foreign diplomats are stuck in queue,” Mr. Polikha said assuring that the Ukrainian side is cooperating with the Indian officials to ensure evacuation of the stranded Indians and that there is no discrimination being displayed to the Indian nationals. Mr. Polikha said the ministers of the Ukraine government are receiving lots of phone calls from different parts of the world seeking urgent help in exiting the country. The envoy blamed the Russian invasion for the difficulties that the Indian students are facing. Mr Bagchi said that around 8,000 Indian students have left Ukraine since the beginning of the first advisory but thousands more remain stranded in major educational centres like Kharkiv, Sumy and the capital Kyiv where a “live conflict” is underway. Mr. Bagchi announced that apart from the existing evacuation routes through the border crossings along Ukraine-Poland and Ukraine -Romania borders, a new route has been opened up also through the border with Moldova. He however urged Indian students and professionals in Ukraine to avoid reaching the borders in western Ukraine directly and coordinate with the Indian officials and local universities. “There are long queues at the borders. Please stay in nearby towns where Indian teams and Ukrainian universities will help,” Mr Bagchi said assuring students that additional Indian officials have been rushed to the embassies in Bucharest, Budapest, Warsaw and near the border crossings. He assured that the evacuation plan - Operation Ganga - is entirely funded by the Indian government and the evacuees are not required to pay any money. “Flights are not a constraint and we will arrange more flights as required,” the official said. India has flown six evacuation flights till Monday afternoon with four from Bucharest and two from Budapest.
