India to send four Union Ministers to Ukraine borders to oversee evacuation process

Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, while chairing a meeting over the ongoing Ukrainian crisis on Monday, decided to send four Union Ministers to Poland and Romania to oversee the evacuation of thousands of Indians, including students, who are still stuck there.

Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, and Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Puri, Minister for Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, and Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways and Civil Aviation General V K Singh are the ones who are going there on the borders of Ukraine soon and will be visiting as Special Envoys of the Indian government, sources said.

Apart from the four ministers, the meeting on Monday was attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Minister of Commerce and Industry & Consumer Affairs and Food and Public Distribution and Textiles Piyush Goyal, Principal Secretary of the Prime Minister PK Mishra, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, along with other senior officials.

Meanwhile, thousands of Indian students studying in Ukraine have been struck in Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia last week. Many of those students reached the nation’s borders with Poland and Romania, but have not been allowed to enter those nations. Several videos of some of those students, asking for help have also come up on social media platforms.

They have been stranded in cold temperatures, with limited food and water, and without any help.

At the same time, the government had identified an alternate train route to help evacuate the students, from Uzhhorod in western Ukraine to Budapest, Hungary’s capital city.

Admitting that the evacuation of Indian students at the border with Poland was “problematic” as thousands of people, including Ukrainians, are using that route, Shringla said on Sunday. “It’s not an organised situation, it’s a conflict zone. Many of our people have been there for a long time, and they are in a difficult situation.”