PM Modi chairs fifth meeting to review Ukraine-related situation

Highlights

Notably, there has been fierce fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russian troops for last 9 days
India has been evacuating its citizens under a special operation called 'Operation Ganga'
Govt has sent four Ministers as 'Special Envoys' to neighbouring countries of Ukraine

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday chaired a meeting to review the Ukraine crisis amid New Delhi's ongoing exercise to evacuate Indian nationals, mostly students, from the country facing attack from Russia.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and another Union Minister Piyush Goyal, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and senior officials attended the meeting.

India has been evacuating its citizens under a special operation, called 'Operation Ganga', through 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.

The government has sent four Union Ministers as 'Special Envoys' to neighbouring countries of Ukraine to coordinate the exercise.

Today is the ninth day of the Russian attack. India has reached out to both Russia and Ukraine several times seeking safe passage for its nationals to the western borders.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier dialled Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy to appeal for resolving their differences through talks and accorded top priority to the safety and returns of Indians living in Ukraine that has come under attack from Moscow which Putin wants to demilitarise.