Ukraine Crisis: PM Modi Chairs A High-Level Meeting on Russia-Ukraine situation

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held another high-level meeting and reviewed the ongoing efforts under ‘Operation Ganga’ to bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine during the meeting.

PM Modi said the entire government machinery is working round the clock to ensure that all Indians in Ukraine are safe and secure and that India will also help people from neighboring and developing countries who are stranded in the eastern European nation.

“PM said that the entire government machinery is working round the clock to ensure that all Indians there are safe & secure,” MEA Spox Arindam Bagchi said quoted by news agency ANI.

Many Indian students are still stranded in Ukraine and for their evacuation, India is making efforts to evacuate its citizens stuck in the war-torn country.

The government has also decided to send Union ministers Hardeep Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and General (retd) VK Singh to Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova to oversee the evacuation of Indians.

The MEA said Modi noted that the first consignment of relief supplies to Ukraine to deal with the humanitarian situation on the country’s borders would be dispatched on Tuesday.

“The prime minister pointed that the visit of four senior ministers as his Special Envoys to various nations will energize the evacuation efforts. It is reflective of the priority the government attaches to this matter,” the MEA said in a statement.

“Guided by India’s motto of the world being one family, the prime minister also stated that India will help people from neighboring countries and developing countries who are stranded in Ukraine and may seek assistance,” it added.

It further said: “The prime minister said that the entire government machinery is working round the clock to ensure that all Indian nationals there are safe and secure.”

Earlier, the Indian government has launched ‘Operation Ganga’ to bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine. Under this operation, India has successfully brought back more than 1,000 of its nationals from the country. To assist the Indians, the government has also set up 24×7 control centres, and a Twitter handle, ‘OpGanga Helpline’, has also been dedicated to the mission.

Meanwhile, India has also decided to send humanitarian aid including medicines to war-torn Ukraine, said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) as quoted by news agency ANI.

Russia’s bombing of Ukraine continues for the fifth day on Monday. In an effort to end the conflict, the two countries held talks for 3 hours on the Belarus-Ukraine border. However, media reports called the talks inconclusive. According to Russian media, the two countries can hold talks again soon.

(With PTI inputs)

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