New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on Sunday afternoon to review India’s security preparedness and the prevailing global scenario in the context of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
The meeting was attended by a number of Cabinet ministers, including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Srhingla also attended the meeting.
Earlier, PM Modi had chaired several high-level meetings to review 'Operation Ganga' to bring back stranded Indians from Ukraine. Amid the fast-developing crisis in Ukraine, Jaishankar will be making a statement in the second part of the Budget Session in Parliament on 'Operation Ganga'.
He will also speak on India's stand vis-a-vis the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The Central government launched 'Operation Ganga' on February 24 to bring back stranded Indians stuck in Ukraine. Four Central ministers, Kiren Rijiju, Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, and General VK Singh, were sent by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Ukraine's neighbouring countries to coordinate the efforts for the rescue of the stranded Indians.
So far, India has been able to rescue around 20,000 stranded citizens in more than 80 special evacuation flights. Through 'Operations Ganga', India has also been able to rescue several citizens of the neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal.
Meanwhile, Russian forces launched a missile attack on a large Ukrainian military facility near the Polish border on Sunday, officials said. According to a report by Reuters, "the occupiers launched an airstrike on the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security" in Yavoriv, the Lviv regional military administration said in a statement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Russia had adopted a "fundamentally different approach" in talks to end the conflict. He said the approach was in contrast to earlier talks at which Moscow only "issued ultimatums".