TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday urged Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to speed up evacuation of the stranded Telugu people in the war-torn Ukraine and its border countries.
In a letter to the Union Minister, Mr. Naidu stressed the need for increasing the number of flights being operated to bring back the stranded people.
‘Stupendous efforts’
The TDP chief lauded the Centre’s efforts made so far in this direction. “It is heartwarming to note the stupendous efforts put forth by you (Mr. Jaishankar), your team and colleagues to bring back the Indians stranded in Ukraine. The Government of India has so far brought our people back home only through Bucharest and Budapest airports i.e., Romania and Hungary respectively. There are several people who have crossed the Ukraine border and are waiting to fly back home,” he said in the letter.
Mr. Naidu said in the wake of a large number of Telugu people trapped along with other fellow Indians at various border points, the Centre should increase the number of flights to evacuate Indians. These flights may be operated from other countries bordering Ukraine such Slovakia, Moldova and Poland so that the government could reach out to more number of people waiting for help, he said.
The TDP chief also said that at present, all flights carrying Indians were landing in Mumbai or Delhi airports. “Considering the large number of Telugu people among the evacuees, the flights should be operated till Hyderabad, Tirupati, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam,” he said.
