4000 Indians have already left Ukraine, safety of our nationals top priority: Harsh V Shringla - 10 points

Talking about PM Modi's expected chat with Putin, Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla said, "It would be difficult to guess in advance the nature of the conversation between Prime Minister Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The conversations will be around the situation in Ukraine today."

Pic courtesy: IANS

New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs briefed the media on the Ukraine crisis. A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security took place to take stock of the situation in Ukraine. Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the meeting and the PM will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin shortly.

Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla said, "It would be difficult to guess in advance the nature of the conversation between Prime Minister Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The conversations will be around the situation in Ukraine today." 

Addressing the media, Shringla spoke about the situation in Ukraine and outlined the steps that India is taking to ensure the safety and security of Indian nationals stuck in Ukraine. 

Here are some key points from his speech:

1)  The situation on the ground is difficult and is rapidly evolving.
2)  4000 Indian nationals have already left Ukraine in the past few days. The MEA control room in Delhi has got 980 calls and 850 emails.
3) At the CCS meeting, PM Modi has stated that the topmost priority of the government is the safety and security of Indian nationals including students in Ukraine.
4) We will handle the evacuation with utmost precaution. Roadways have been mapped out to evacuate Indian nationals from Kyiv and reach safer places.
5) We are in touch with the Ministry of Defence to keep provision for airlift (of Indians) capacity, in regard to the situation in Ukraine.
6) A number of steps have been taken to deal with the emerging situation in Ukraine. We started the registration of Indian nationals in Ukraine about a month ago. Based on online registration, we found that 20,000 Indian nationals were there.
7) Our Embassy in Ukraine continues to be functional. A number of advisories have been issued by embassies on the situation as it evolves. We're consulting universities, student contractors in the process of providing welfare and safety of our students.
8) One important step we have taken is to pursue all universities in Ukraine to conduct online classes. PM Modi has specifically stated that the MEA should do everything possible for our citizens in Ukraine.
9) Some sanctions have been imposed on Russia by the UK, US, Australia, Japan among others. We have to see what impacts these sanctions will have on our interests. Any sanctions will have an impact on our relationship, I think it would be correct to acknowledge that.
10) External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar will speak to Foreign ministers of  Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary. Jaishankar is also expected to speak to the Ukrainian Foreign Minister today.

#WATCH Ministry of External Affairs briefs the media on Ukraine crisis https://t.co/puBkO2eJVM — ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2022

Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Thursday (February 24) in the biggest attack by one state on another in Europe since World War Two. Ukraine reported columns of troops pouring across its borders from Russia and Belarus and landing on the coast from the Black and Azov seas, and missiles rained down. Russian President Vladimir Putin said his aim was to demilitarise and "denazify" Ukraine.

(With ANI inputs)