6,000 Indians Brought Back To Country From Ukraine So Far: Union Minister
The minister, who met the parents of some students who are stuck in Ukraine here, was speaking to the reporters on the sidelines of an event.
New Delhi: The Indian government had issued advisory to Indian nationals before February 24, asking them to leave Ukraine if it wasn't essential for them to stay on, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said here on Wednesday.
Urging the parents not to panic, he said of 20,000 Indians stranded in Ukraine following the Russian invasion, 6,000 have been brought back safely, and the government is making all efforts to ensure safe return of the rest.
The minister, who met the parents of some students who are stuck in Ukraine here, was speaking to the reporters on the sidelines of an event.
"There were around 20,000 students and other citizens who were stranded in Ukraine. Of them, 4,000 were brought back to India before February 24. Additional 2,000 students were brought back to India till Tuesday and efforts are on to evacuate the remaining Indians stuck there," he said.
"Earlier, through an advisory, we had advised the students in Kyiv to leave the city and proceed to the western borders. As per the latest information we are receiving in Kharkiv, from time to time advisories are being issued to the students assessing the seriousness of the ground situation," he added.
Around 1,200 students have already left Kharkiv and reached train stations or are already in transit, the minister said.
"Before February 24, when the conflict situation started in Ukraine, around 4,000 students had already returned to India. Till yesterday, around 9,000 students have either reached India or already crossed the Ukrainian border," he said.
The minister denied allegations that there was a delay in starting the evacuation process.
"I talked to some parents and they told me that their children were not in the position to leave Ukraine before February 24 as the universities and colleges were conducting off-line classes," he said.
The Indian government had issued an advisory before February 24 asking those for whom it was not necessary to stay in Ukraine to leave the country, he said.
"On that basis, around 4,000 people returned to India before February 24," Muraleedharan added.
With the help of Ukraine's neighbouring countries Romania, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, the students were being evacuated to India, he said.
The Union government has launched 'Operation Ganga' to bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine. Asked about Shiv Sena's allegation that the name `Ganga' was being used keeping Uttar Pradesh elections is mind, he said, "It is not a political issue. It is a national issue. It is pertaining to the safety of Indian citizens. There should not be any objection to the name." Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Muraleedharan said. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has spoken to the countries which share border with Ukraine, and the foreign secretary has held two rounds of discussions with the Ukrainian and Russian ambassadors in Delhi and requested them to facilitate the evacuation of Indian students, he said.
"I would like to request Indian parents not to panic. The Indian government is committed to bringing all the students and citizens of India back safely," the minister said.
Asked about allegations that Indian students were being harassed by Ukrainians while crossing the borders, he said no such incidents were happening at present, but there might have been such occurances earlier.
The Indian mission in Kyiv is constantly assessing the situation and issuing advisories to Indian nationals in the country, Muraleedharan said.
Four senior ministers are currently camping in countries adjacent to Ukraine and coordinating Operation Ganga, he said.
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