The Indian Air Force is ready to airlift nationals stranded in Ukraine, along with commercial aircraft, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Thursday, adding India is in touch with both Russia and Ukraine as a "stakeholder". "The Ministry of External Affairs is in touch with the Ministry of Defence. We have told them that we will need provisions for airlift. In that case, the IAF can go along with commercial aircraft... All options are on the table," said Shringla. He also said that India's topmost priority is safety and security of Indian nationals and their evacuation.
India on Thursday, February 24, mounted a major diplomatic initiative to evacuate its nationals from Ukraine through its land border crossings after Russia launched a large-scale military assault on the eastern European nation triggering major global concerns and sanctions against Moscow by several Western powers.
Amid the deepening crisis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and "sensitised" him about concerns over the safety of the Indian citizens in Ukraine and that India attaches the highest priority to their safe exit and return home. "The Prime Minister appealed for an immediate cessation of violence, and called for concerted efforts from all sides to return to the path of diplomatic negotiations and dialogue," an official statement said.
It also said that Putin briefed the PM on the developments relating to Ukraine and Modi reiterated his long-standing conviction that the differences between Russia and NATO can only be resolved through "honest and sincere dialogue".
With increasing concerns over the safety of around 16,000 Indians in Ukraine, Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) with a primary focus of evacuating the citizens as well as assessing the situation in Ukraine. India is focusing on evacuating the Indians through Ukraine's land borders with Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Romania as the Ukrainian government closed the country's airspace following the Russian military offensive that has killed dozens of people.
At a media briefing, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said the PM conveyed at the CCS meeting that the topmost priority of the government is the safety and security of Indian nationals including students and their evacuation from Ukraine.
"I want to assure all Indian citizens including students in Ukraine and their family members that we will take all possible steps to bring you back safe and sound," he said. The foreign secretary said there were around 20,000 Indians in Ukraine and of them, nearly 4,000 have returned to India in the last few days. Shringla said the government has asked Indian ambassadors in countries neighbouring Ukraine such as Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary to send teams from their missions to border areas with Ukraine to facilitate the exit of Indians so that they can be evacuated to India.
The Indian embassy in Poland said a camp office is being set up at Krakowiec on the Polish-Ukrainian border that will facilitate transit through Poland to India. A similar office is also being set up in Lviv in Ukraine.
The Indian embassy in Hungary said it sent a team to the border post of Zohanyi to coordinate and provide assistance to facilitate the exit of Indians from Ukraine. Shringla said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will be speaking to his counterparts from Poland Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Ukraine on the crisis. Jaishankar is also expected to speak to the Ukrainian foreign minister.
As the Ukrainian government declared a state emergency and closed the country's airspace for civilian flights, the Indian embassy in Kyiv issued three separate advisories in the course of the day appealing to the Indians to maintain calm and remain safe wherever they are.
In the media briefing, Shringla said India has been in touch with all concerned parties including Russia, the European Union and the US. "As you can imagine both as a member of the UN Security Council, as a country with a lot at stake in that region, as a country with so many citizens in vulnerable zones, we have been in close touch with all concerned," he said.
"We have maintained that the parties need to talk to each other, parties need to be engaged and if there is anything that we can do to facilitate that engagement, we are more than happy to do. As we go along we will try and be as helpful as possible," he said.
In its latest advisory, the Indian embassy said the movement of people is now difficult in Ukraine as it is under martial law and those hearing air sirens and bomb warnings should find nearby bomb shelters. "We are aware that certain places are hearing air sirens/bomb warnings. In case you are faced with such a situation, Google maps have a list of nearby bomb shelters, many of which are located in underground metros," it said.
"While the mission is identifying a possible solution to the situation, please be aware of your surroundings, be safe, do not leave your homes unless necessary and carry your documents with you at all times," it said. Ambassador Satpathy said the Indian embassy in Kyiv continues to remain open and operate.
He said the embassy has already reached out to the Indian diaspora in Ukraine and requested them to assist the Indians to the "best of their abilities". "I urge you to please stay wherever you are, in your familiar locations. Those who are in transit, please return to your familiar places of habitation," he said.
"Those who are stranded here in Kyiv, please get in touch with your friends and colleagues in Kyiv, universities and other community members, so that you can temporarily lodge there," Satpathy said.