The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday briefed the 21-member consultative committee on foreign affairs on the prevailing situation in war-torn Ukraine and India's operation to airlift stranded nationals. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar along with Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla made the presentation.
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The meeting was attended by Congress' Rahul Gandhi who is a member of the committee, along with party colleagues Anand Sharma and Shashi Tharoor. Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi who has been questioning the government over problems being faced by Indians in Ukraine, also attended the meeting. A Rajya Sabha MP, Priyanka is also a member of the committee.
The opposition stands united with the government, said several leaders after Jaishankar briefed the committee members of his ministry.
"We all are united," Tharoor told reporters after the meeting. "Excellent meeting of the Consultative Committee on External Affairs this morning on #Ukraine. My thanks to @DrSJaishankar & his colleagues for a comprehensive briefing & candid responses to our questions &concerns. This is the spirit in which foreign policy should be run," he added in a tweet.
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"... Frank discussions took place in an amicable atmosphere, a reminder that when it comes to national interests we are all Indians first and foremost," Tharoor said.
Echoing him, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi described the meeting as very good. "We were well briefed and stand united with the government," she said
YSR Congress MP Beeseti Venkata Satyavathi said the ministry in the meeting assured the MPs that stranded students would be evacuated in the next few days.
Jaishankar later tweeted about the meet. "Just completed a MEA consultative committee meeting on developments in Ukraine. A good discussion on the strategic and humanitarian aspects of the issue. Strong and unanimous message of support for efforts to bring back all Indians from Ukraine," he said.
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India has been evacuating its citizens through special flights from Ukraine's western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24 due to the Russian military offensive.
Four Union Ministers have gone to Ukraine's western neighbours to facilitate the evacuation of Indian nationals. Hardeep Singh Puri is in Hungary, Jyotiraditya Scindia is in Romania, Kiren Rijiju is in Slovakia and V K Singh is in Poland.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday to review the situation in Ukraine and Indian evacuation efforts. "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," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.
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