Team Of 4 Union Ministers To Coordinate Rescue Efforts With Ukraine Neighbours To Evacuate Indians

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday chaired a high-level meeting on the Ukraine crisis

According to a government estimate, close to 15,000 Indian citizens are stranded in Ukraine | Photo: Twitter/@IndiainUkraine

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting Monday to discuss the Ukraine crisis. The meeting was called to coordinate evacuation of Indian nationals with neighbouring countries of Ukraine.

#WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi calls a high-level meeting on the Ukraine crisis. Some Union Ministers may go to neighboring countries of Ukraine to coordinate the evacuations.#RussiaUkraineCrisis pic.twitter.com/yqTFYwspxo

— ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2022

According to ABP News sources, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Hardeep Singh Puri, Kiren Rijiju and former Army chief V K Singh will coordinate rescue efforts with Ukrainian neighbours, Romania, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia as special envoys.

Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia will look after Romania and Moldova, Hardeep Singh Puri will go to Hungary, while Kiren Rijiju and  Gen (Retd) VK Singh will work with officials in Slovakia and Poland, respectively to evacuate Indian nationals.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised on the need of ensuring safe return of all Indians stuck in Ukraine due to the Russian invasion. He also stressed on the need to coordinate with Ukranian neighbours in order to expedite evacuations.

This was the second high-level meeting chaired by PM Modi in the last 24 hours over Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine.

Earlier on Monday, a fifth flight carrying 249 Indian nationals from Ukraine arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi.

According to a government estimate, close to 15,000 Indian citizens are stranded in Ukraine for which the Indian government has launched 'Operation Ganga'. So far 718 people have been evacuated from Ukraine.

Since Russia started its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the conflict has claimed lives of 352 civilians, including 14 children confirmed the Interior Ministry of Ukraine. The number of injured according to the ministry stands at 1,684, including 116 children.