Commenting on the Ukraine crisis the Ministry of External Affairs said that there are no immediate plans to evacuate Indian nationals from the European country. Addressing a weekly press briefing, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said no decision has so far been taken by the government so far on evacuations. He added that the Indian Embassy in Ukraine is monitoring the developments there and has issued two advisories so far in this regard.
The spokesperson said India was currently focussed on the Indian citizens currently living in Ukraine “rather than anything larger than that”.
“You would’ve seen developments being monitored by the Embassy. They’ve issued a couple of advisories. We’ve set up control rooms. I don’t think any decision on evacuation has been taken, our Embassy continues to function normally and provide services to Indian nationals in Ukraine,” the spokesperson said.
“When we issue an advisory, we take on board developments that are happening as well as our assessment of how we can assist our citizens there. Our focus is and remains on Indian citizens, Indian students, Indian nationals rather than anything larger than that,” he added.
Bagchi said since there were no immediate plans to carry out an evacuation, that is the reason why no special flights have been planned so far. However, the spokesperson added, the restrictions on the number of flights and passengers with regard to Ukraine have been removed as there were earlier a limited number of flights under the air bubble arrangement.
“Indian carriers are being encouraged to operate chartered flights between India and Ukraine,” Bagchi stated further.
Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said that it has removed the restriction on the number of flights and seats between India and Ukraine in the air bubble arrangement.
“Any number of flights and charter flights can operate. Indian airlines have been informed to mount flights due to the increase in demand. MoCA is facilitating in coordination with MEA,” the ministry said.
Bagchi also stated that India was in favour of immediate de-escalation of tensions and the resolution of the issue via sustained diplomatic dialogue.
“Welcome efforts being undertaken under the Normandy Format for the implementation of Minsk agreements. We’d like to see a diplomatic and peaceful resolution of the situation,” the MEA spokesperson said while commenting on the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
