MEA has doubled its efforts to evacuate the Indian students from Ukraine after the unfortunate death of an Indian student. A 21-year-old Karnataka student was killed in an attack by Russian forces in Ukraine’s Kharkiv city on Tuesday, marking the first Indian casualty in the conflict in Ukraine.
Naveen S. Gyanagoudar, the deceased, was slain while waiting to buy groceries outside a grocery store. Officials say it’s unclear if Mr. Naveen was killed by Russian shelling on a neighboring government building or by gunfire fired by Russian soldiers. Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla told the media that Mr. Naveen’s body has been carried to the Kharkiv National Medical University, where he was a student, and that he will be returned as soon as possible, along with roughly 4,000 other students besieged in Kharkiv and other places under Russian fire.
PM chaired High-Level meeting
Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened a high-level conference on evacuation operations, hoping to redouble efforts and speed up the return of students, beginning the discussion with a note of “deep sadness” over the killing. The administration, on the other hand, refused to say whether the student’s death would influence India’s attitude at the United Nations, where a number of resolutions on the war in Ukraine are being debated.
Mr. Shringla summoned the envoys of Russia and Ukraine to express his outrage at the killings and pleaded for the safe passage of all Indian nationals, roughly 40% of whom remain in combat zones. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called to other leaders of neighboring nations, including those of Poland, Slovakia, and Romania, to appeal that thousands of Indians crossing the border from Ukraine be allowed to stay.
Mr. Shringla stated that the first consignment of humanitarian aid for Ukraine, which includes medical supplies and equipment, tents, and blankets, has been sent to Warsaw, and that the Indian Air Force will fly a C-17 aircraft to Bucharest early Wednesday morning, in addition to a number of commercial flights bringing back students. On Tuesday, the tenth evacuation aircraft, carrying roughly 250 passengers, departed Bucharest for Delhi, while four ministers traveled to Warsaw, Bucharest, Budapest, and Moldova to assist in the coordination of additional flights.
MEA is coordinating with Indian Embassies in Moscow
Officials from the government stated they are also looking into the idea of relocating students stuck in Eastern Ukraine to the Russian border, and an Indian team from the Indian Embassy in Moscow has been stationed in Belgorod, Russia’s border city. Those besieged in attack-plagued cities such as Kyiv and Kharkiv, on the other hand, are finding it difficult to flee.
The Indian Embassy in Kyiv issued advice with a note of caution as the Russian military increased missile strikes on Ukrainian sites, focussing on Kyiv, where eyewitness reports stated a big Russian military convoy had arrived on the outskirts of the capital city.
The alert stated, “All Indian nationals are recommended to leave Kyiv immediately today, preferably by available trains or by any other means available.” Mr. Shringla claims that by the end of the day, all Indian citizens attempting to escape Kyiv had successfully exited the city and were on their way to the western borders for extraction.
The Indian Embassy in Kyiv has also dispatched people to Lviv, closer to the border, in order to be better positioned to assist Indians fleeing the country, according to officials. The MEA, on the other hand, has refused to clarify whether it has closed its embassy in Kyiv, as some other nations have done. Mr. Shringla estimates that about 40% of the approximately 20,000 Indian citizens living in Ukraine are still in the country, with half remaining in conflict areas such as Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Sumy, and the other half relocating to safer areas near the western borders with Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Moldova.
PM Modi also received phone calls on Tuesday from French President Emmanuel Macron and European Council President Charles Michel, all of whom offered their sorrow for the death of the Indian student. Mr. Michel, who pledged all assistance to Indian students, also urged the international community to “unite in support of international law.” European countries have encouraged India to join UN Security Council, General Assembly, and Human Rights Council resolutions condemning Russia.
Mr. Shringla said that each upcoming resolution would be considered “carefully,” in their “entirety,” and in India’s “best interests,” when asked if Tuesday’s killing of an Indian student would change India’s position at the United Nations, where India has consistently abstained from any resolution that overtly criticizes, condemns, or deplores Russia’s actions.