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‘Ensure safe passage for Indians’: New Delhi’s sharp message to Russia, Ukraine
Foreign secretary Harsh Shringla told ambassadors of Russia and Ukraine for the second time since Sunday to demand safe passage for them so that they can be speedily evacuated
New Delhi on Tuesday demanded that Moscow and Kyiv should provide safe passage for all Indian nationals stuck in conflict zones in eastern Ukraine following the death of an Indian student in shelling in Kharkiv city.
Foreign secretary Harsh Shringla separately called in the ambassadors of Russia and Ukraine for the second time since Sunday to raise the safety and security of Indian nationals and to demand safe passage for them so that they can be speedily evacuated. Shringla met the envoys shortly after 21-year-old Naveen Shekharappa Gyandagoudar, a final-year medical student, was killed in Kharkiv.
“Today, I reiterated strongly our demand for urgent safe passage for all Indian nationals who are still in Kharkiv and other cities in the conflict area,” Shringla told a media briefing late on Tuesday. He recalled that he had emphasise the need to protect Indians, particularly students in conflict zones, during his meetings with the envoys on Sunday and that they had given assurances in this regard.
Officials said the safety and evacuation of an estimated 4,000 students in Kharkiv, Sumy and other cities in eastern Ukraine, which has witnessed intense shelling, is the government’s top priority.
About 100 Indians were able to take a train out of Kharkiv but others were prevented from leaving by the circumstances. “There were risks associated and they went back. We have emphasised that they stay safe and secure [in] bunkers and shelters...until there is a possibility that we can evacuate [them] from that difficult area,” Shringla said.
“It is a fluid situation. We have absolutely, strongly and emphatically asked them to create this safe passage,” he said.
“But there is a war going on and we will have to make the best of a situation [so] that we can find a way. I think that our interlocutors, both in Russia and Ukraine, understand that and we will try and continue to press them to enable us to evacuate our citizens in good order,” he added.
There were an estimated 20,000 Indians in Ukraine at the time India issued its first advisory before the fighting began, and about 12,000 have left the country so far. Of the remaining 8,000-odd Indians, about half are in cities such as Kharkiv and Sumy in conflict zones, while the other half have either reached or are heading towards the relatively safer western part of Ukraine, Shringla said.
All Indian nationals have left the capital Kyiv. “The information with us is that we have no more nationals left in Kyiv...All our inquiries reveal that each and every one of our nationals has come out of Kyiv,” he added
Of the 7,700-odd Indians who had exited Ukraine via border crossings to neighbouring countries, some 2000 had been evacuated in charter flights. About 5,000 more were waiting to be flown back, and the government intended to operate 26 flights in the next two to three days, Shringla said.
People familiar with developments said most of the staff in the Indian embassy in Kyiv had been moved to Lviv city and other locations to facilitate the evacuation of Indians. A decision on moving the small number of officials in Kyiv is linked to the evolving security situation and they have remained in position to make absolutely sure that there no more Indians in the city, the people said.
A team from the Indian embassy in Moscow is also in position in the Russian city of Belgorod, located some 100 km across the border from Kharkiv, and has been preparing for all contingencies, including exit routes, accommodation and logistics.
Besides the four union ministers sent as special envoys to Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, 25 diplomats have also been sent to the four countries to supplement staff and assist in the evacuation programme.
Following calls to his Slovak and Romanian counterparts on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Polish President Andrzej Duda on Tuesday to discuss the evacuation. Modi thanked Duda for the help provided by Poland in the evacuation process, and the special gesture of relaxing visa requirements for Indians crossing over from Ukraine.
Modi informed Duda that Union minister VK Singh will be stationed in Poland as a special envoy to oversee evacuation efforts, and reiterated India’s appeal for cessation of hostilities and a return to dialogue. He also stressed on the importance of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations.
The prime minister also received calls from French President Emmanuel Macron and Charles Michel, the President of the European Council. Michel tweeted that he had expressed his condolences for the loss of life of an Indian student in Kharkiv “due to indiscriminate Russian attacks against innocent civilians”. He added that Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova, Ukraine, and the EU are “wholeheartedly helping Indian citizens” to evacuate from Ukraine.
“The attacks on #Ukraine aim to destroy multilateralism and cause pain and suffering. The world must unite in defence of international law,” Michel said.
Indian also sent the first consignment of humanitarian aid for Ukraine, including medicines, medical equipment and relief materials, via Poland on Tuesday and another consignment will be sent on Wednesday.
Responding to a question on India’s position on the Ukraine crisis in the United Nations, Shringla said: “In the UN, we take positions that are based on certain very careful considerations and certainly we do regard the merits of each and every case that comes before us.” He added there was a resolution on Ukraine in the Security Council and the General Assembly and “we will consider all of them in entirety and take decisions in our best interests”.
