PM reviews security amid Ukraine crisis

Mar 13,2022

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday chaired a high-level meeting to review the security preparedness and discuss the current global scenario in the context of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, government sources said.

The meeting on Sunday was attended by defence minister Rajnath Singh, external affairs minister S Jaishankar and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and national security advisor Ajit Doval were also present at the meeting among others, according to people in the know.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine last month, the Prime Minister has held several high-level meetings, largely concerning the evacuation of Indian citizens and students stranded in the warn-torn country under the ‘Operation Ganga’

On Friday, as many as 600 Indians, who were evacuated from Ukraine's Sumy, were flown out in three special flights from Poland.

The Indian Embassy in Warsaw tweeted, "600 Indians evacuated from Sumy flew out in three special flights out of Poland- the last of the Op Ganga flights! Some of the students are seen here with Amb Mallick and other members of the Poland evacuation team at Rzeszow airport."

India on Friday expressed its gratitude to Ukraine, Russia and the Red Cross for helping it evacuate its citizens from various Ukrainian cities in the midst of the ongoing war.

As part of the evacuation plans, four union minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju, Hardeep Singh Puri and V.K. Singh were sent to the neighbouring countries of Ukraine to better coordinate the evacuation process. According to the government, India has evacuated more than 20,000 of its citizens from war-hit Ukraine under Operation Ganga.

In the past few weeks since the war broke out, Modi has held talks with both the Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Apart from seeking support in the evacuation of Indians from the war-torn region, the Prime Minister also called for direct talks between the two leaders and a de-escalation of military action.

In terms of India's response to Russia's military action, India has so far been cautious and has abstained from voting on resolutions against Moscow at the United Nations.

The government has also been appreciated and its efforts have been acknowledged by leaders of neighbouring nations for safely bringing back some of their stranded residents.

Nepal's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Saturday expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government for evacuating four Nepalese nationals stranded in Ukraine amidst the military offensive by Russia. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also recently thanked Prime Minister Modi as India rescued nine Bangladeshi students from Ukraine.

India has also been sending humanitarian aid to Ukraine during this period.

Further, the Indian Embassy in Moscow has come up with an advisory for Indian students studying in Russian universities. In its advisory dated March 9, the embassy said that it would like to reassure all students that at present no security reason is seen for them to leave.

"Certain disruption of banking services in Russia and direct flight connectivity from Russia to India is, however, taking place. If students have concerns regarding these aspects and would like to travel back to India, they may consider doing so," it said.

Further, regarding the academic programmes, the embassy has been informed by a number of universities that they have already shifted to the online distance learning mode and it advised the students to exercise their discretion in consultation with their respective universities on the appropriate course of action regarding continuation of their academic activities without disruption.