An estimated 20,000 Indian students are pursuing various educational courses in Ukraine, including as part of exchange programmes between the two countries.
The Congress alleged that the Centre has failed to make timely arrangements for the safe return of the students. “Turning your face away in every difficult time…. and keeping silent has become a habit of the Modi government. Our 20,000 Indian youth in Ukraine are forced to grapple with fear, apprehension and life-threatening situations. Why didn’t you make arrangements to bring them safely in time. Is this the ‘self-reliant’ mission,” asked spokesperson Randeep Surjewala in a tweet.
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday wrote to Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar, seeking urgent help for the 2,322 students from the state who are in Ukraine. “Many of the students are staying back as they do not want a break in their studies. I am writing this letter to request the kind intervention of your good self with authorities in that country for ensuring the safety of our students…to make necessary arrangements for their return by arranging special flights,” Vijayan wrote. Raising similar demands in his letter, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal urged Jaishankar to explore alternative routes for evacuation of students and citizens as the airspace was shut in Ukraine.
Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s letter to Jaishankar stated that many students from AP were contacting the state government for their safe return home. “Andhra Pradesh will extend all possible support to the Government of India in repatriating students in Ukraine from Andhra. I request the concerned MEA officials to reach out to the Resident Commissioner… or officials from my office for any assistance and support required for repatriating students belonging to AP,” Reddy said.
Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel said his government is ready to pay for the air tickets of (about 75) students from the state stranded in Ukraine. Officials said the state government’s Resident Commissioner and a nodal officer here were coordinating with the Ministry of External and Indian Embassy for the students’ rescue.
Haryana CM ML Khattar urged “fellow Haranvis to remain calm and refrain from panic and anxiety and coordinate with the concerned authorities to return to the country” even as he attached the control room numbers of MEA and state government.
“In view of the war situation in Ukraine, the state administration is directed to coordinate with the Ministry of External Affairs to bring back the citizens of Maharashtra who are stranded in Ukraine,” said Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray.
Kashmiri Students’ Appeal
Scores of students from Kashmir, stranded in Ukraine, have appealed for evacuation. However, the students informed that none of them were harmed until now but some of them have intermittently heard loud bangs and blasts. Routine classes in most of the educational institutes and universities were cancelled. There are around 180 to 200 Kashmiri students in Ukraine and some of them have recently managed to come back.
“As of now, war is far from us, but we don’t know how far it is. We appeal to the concerned officials to help evacuate us,” said a student, who is over 1,000 km away from the capital Kyiv. Another student in Kharkiv city reported that they heard blasts between 3 am and 7 am. Some students informed that following media reports, there was chaos in some areas and people were seen running towards ATMs and departmental stores. Officials in the J&K administration claim that they were in touch with the central government to ensure the safety, security and evacuation of the students from Ukraine.
