PM Modi Chairs High-Level Meeting on Ukraine Crisis, Ensures ‘Safety & Evacuation of Indian Students Top Priority’

The Prime Minister had last held a meeting with the Cabinet Committee of Security on Thursday evening, underscoring the need to focus on bringing the Indian nationals home safely.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on the Ukraine issue on Sunday evening, reported news agency ANI. The meeting was joined by Minister of External Affairs, Dr S Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Harshvardhan Sringla, apart from senior officials, and lasted over two hours.

The PM ensured safety and evacuation of Indian students as top priority, government sources said. Further cooperation with neighbouring countries of Ukraine to expedite evacuation will be enhanced, they added. PM Modi presided over the meeting immediately upon his return from Uttar Pradesh, where he addressed rallies as part of the BJP’s campaign for the state assembly polls.

#WATCH | PM Narendra Modi chairs a high-level meeting on the Ukraine issue. pic.twitter.com/eJELxgnqmO

— ANI (@ANI) February 27, 2022

Around 18,000 Indian nationals, most of them students, have been trapped in Ukraine, which has been under attack from Russia for a week now. The Prime Minister had last held a meeting with the Cabinet Committee of Security on Thursday evening, where he underscored the need to focus on bringing the Indian nationals home safely.

He later spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin as well, calling for “immediate cessation of violence” and stressing that India attaches the “highest priority” to the safe exit and return of its citizens from Ukraine.