new Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed the issue of safe evacuation of Indians from war-torn Ukraine. This was the second conversation between Modi and Putin on the Ukraine dispute within a week.
The phone call came on a day when PM Modi assured the nation that the government would leave no stone unturned for the safe return of all Indians stranded in Ukraine, which has come under heavy fire from the Russian army.
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Naveen Shekharappa Gyangoudar, a fourth year medical student at Kharkiv National Medical University, was killed in heavy shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine on Tuesday.
PM Modi has held several meetings since Sunday to take stock of India’s efforts to bring back its citizens safely, saying it is his government’s top priority.
Addressing the press conference on Wednesday, Dr. Foreign Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said that about 17,000 Indian citizens Ukraine had left the border since the issue of the advisory.
“During the last 24 hours, 6 flights have landed in India, taking the total number of flights in India to 15 and the total number of Indians returning from these flights to 3,352,” Bagchi said. He said that 15 flights are scheduled in the next 24 hours.
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Earlier in the day, the Indian embassy in Ukraine asked all Indian nationals to leave Kharkiv to safer areas or further west immediately. The Ministry of External Affairs has assured that every Indian citizen from Ukraine will be brought back.
During his earlier talks with Putin on February 24, PM Modi appealed to all parties to make concerted efforts to immediately stop the violence as well as return to the path of diplomatic dialogue.
PM Modi also informed the Russian President about India’s concerns regarding the safety of Indian citizens in Ukraine.