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Modi slams politicisation of evacuation of Indians from Ukraine
He said opposition parties made a desperate attempt to take “political advantage” of the evacuation process
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday slammed chief ministers of some states for “politicising” the evacuation of Indians from war-torn Ukraine, people aware of the matter said.
Addressing a parliamentary party meeting of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Modi said opposition parties made a desperate attempt to take “political advantage” of the evacuation process.
The comments came after external affairs minister S Jaishankar made a presentation on the government’s efforts to evacuate Indians, mostly students in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war.
“The PM said the states ruled by the opposition parties did not even provide information about the domicile residents who were trapped in the war-torn country. Instead of sending these details to the information counters opened by the Union government, they tried to make public statements to draw political mileage,” said a party functionary.
The functionary added the Cabinet secretary was in touch with the state chief secretaries for the information of those stranded in Ukraine.
“The chief secretaries were asked to send people to the families of those who were stranded but they did not do so. Eventually, BJP president JP Nadda was asked to send party leaders to assure these families. So, the PM congratulated Nadda ji for giving moral support to the families,” the functionary said.
Jaishankar informed Rajya Sabha that India ensured the safe return of 22,500 citizens as part of Operation Ganga.
