Ukraine crisis: India evacuates all its citizens from Pisochyn
Making the announcement, India's embassy in Ukraine said in a tweet it will continue to remain in touch with the evacuees throughout their journey.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday chaired another high-level meeting with senior ministers and top officials on evacuation as the Indian Embassy in Ukraine said that all Indian nationals have been evacuated from the conflict-torn Pisochyn.
“All Indian citizens have been evacuated from Pisochyn. The mission will continue to remain in touch with them throughout their journey. Their safety has always been our priority. Be Safe Be Strong @opganga @MEAIndia,” Embassy said in a tweet.
Earlier, at a media briefing, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said almost all Indians have left Kharkiv city in Ukraine and the main focus of the government is to evacuate citizens from the Sumy area as it is challenging amid ongoing violence and lack of transportation.
“That’s a very positive development. It was an area of considerable concern for last few days.”
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In an official release, the government said on Saturday that 63 flights have evacuated over 13,300 Indians from Ukraine. Of these,15 flights have brought back 3,000 Indians in the last 24 hours. The Government of India had arranged three buses for the evacuation of Indian nationals from Pisochyn. The government has also deployed ‘special envoys’ to four neighbouring countries bordering Ukraine to coordinate and oversee the evacuation process of Indian nationals.
PM Modi, meanwhile, chaired another high-level meeting, focussing on expediting the evacuation process during the meeting. There is a brief reference to the partial ceasefire announced by Russia. The upcoming schedule of special chartered flights to bring back Indian students were also discussed, the functionary added.
Among those present at the meeting on Saturday were external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his cabinet colleague Piyush Goyal, besides foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and national security adviser Ajit Doval. Since Sunday, Modi has chaired a number of such meetings, as his government works to bring back Indian students who have been scrambling to leave Ukraine after Russia launched an attack on it.
India has launched “Operation Ganga” to evacuate its nationals and sent four Union ministers as the prime minister’s special envoys to Ukraine’s neighbours to coordinate the exercise.