Amidst the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, 700 Indian students were evacuated from Sumi in 12 buses on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on two separate phone calls on Monday for the safe evacuation of Indians from the war situation.
Let us inform that regarding this campaign, an official informed The Indian Express that “In this conversation with PM Modi, Russia and Ukraine had given their green signal for the safe evacuation of Indians and told the Prime Minister that they should be given a safe route. No problem with that.” Sources said that the phone conversation between the leaders gave final shape to the initiative for safe evacuation. The decks were cleared after officials in Moscow and Kyiv were instructed to build a “humanitarian corridor”.
Let us tell you that the goal of India was to get the Indians out of the situation of war. In this regard, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Defense Ministry officials along with their counterparts and two Indian ambassadors were engaged with full readiness. While Pavan Kapoor in Moscow and Parth Satpathy in Kyiv, both were in touch with top officials in Delhi. In addition, the international organization Red Cross in Geneva was also contacted and they alerted their unit in Ukraine, which helped with the arrangements for the evacuation operation.
However, in the midst of continuous attacks, there was also a deep apprehension whether there would be a ceasefire or not. At the same time, several phone calls and messages were exchanged before getting the final green signal for a humanitarian corridor and ceasefire for the evacuation operation till midnight on Monday. Even the students were asked to stay away from social media. He was advised not to tweet, post any.
Let us inform that the arrangements for buses to evacuate 700 Indian students trapped in Sumi were also done with great difficulty. Three teams of Indian officials and local embassy staff were stationed in three different cities. The embassy official said that after facing many challenges, the buses finally managed to reach Sumi.
It was also difficult to find drivers during this time. Because the vehicles were mostly controlled by personnel of the Ukrainian Army. Some private cars were included in this. However, some were also short of fuel. Help was taken from local contacts in this campaign. In the end, 12 buses were able to reach a center in Sumi. From where she took the students to a hostel. After this the Indians were sent to Poltava in Ukraine via buses.
Once the paperwork is done, the students will be sent back to India by at least three planes by the morning of March 10 or 11. Another official involved in the arrangements told The Indian Express, “It was not an easy task to get them out, there were a lot of challenges, but we managed it without risking anyone’s life.”
At the same time, in this regard, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that all the students have left for Poltova in Ukraine by bus. I have spoken to the control room, till last night there were 700 Curry Indian students in Sumi.