New Delhi: Indian girl students have been given safe passage to Ukraine’s western border by train — a 20-hour journey — with the help of Russians, NDTV reported. Efforts were on to evacuate the boys also.
Meanwhile, four Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft brought home 798 more Indians, including students, from Ukraine on Thursday. The C-17 aircraft took off from Bucharest, Budapest and Poland’s Rzeszow and landed at Hindon airbase near New Delhi.
The Indian government on Thursday denied reports that Indian students were being held “hostages” in Ukraine.
“We have not received reports of any hostage situation regarding any student. We have requested support of the Ukrainian authorities in arranging special trains for taking out students from Kharkiv and neighbouring areas to the western part of the country,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
“Our Embassy in Ukraine is in continuous touch with Indian nationals in Ukraine. We note that with the cooperation of the Ukrainian authorities, many students have left Kharkiv yesterday. We have not received any reports of any hostage situation regarding any student,” he added.
“We have requested support of the Ukrainian authorities in arranging special trains for taking out students from Kharkiv and neighbouring areas to the western part of the country.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday night and discussed the situation in Kharkiv, where over 1,000 Indian students are stranded.
India also abstained from voting against Russia at the United Nations General Assembly, where a resolution demanding that Russia stop military operations in Ukraine was passed with 141 votes in favour. There were 35 abstentions and five votes against it.
“We demand safe and uninterrupted passage for all Indian nationals, including our students, who are still stranded in Ukraine, particularly from Kharkiv and other cities in the conflict zones… this remains our foremost priority,” India’s ambassador to UN TS Tirumurti said.
Russia has said it was working on a “humanitarian corridor” for the safe passage of stranded Indians via the Russia-Ukraine border.
After Modi spoke to Putin, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said, “The leaders reviewed the situation in Ukraine, especially in the city of Kharkiv where many Indian students are stuck. They discussed the safe evacuation of the Indian nationals from the conflict areas.”
According to Kremlin, “Putin stressed that all the necessary instructions had been given and that the Russian military was doing everything possible to ensure the safe evacuation of Indian citizens from the war zone and their return to their homeland”.
Also read: https://odishabytes.com/no-reports-of-indian-students-taken-hostage-in-ukraine-india-clarifies/
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