All Indians have left Ukraine capital Kyiv: Foreign Secretary

PTI

New Delhi, March 1

All Indian nationals have left Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Tuesday.

At a media briefing, Shringla said he has conveyed to envoys of Russia and Ukraine India’s demand for “urgent safe passage” for all Indian nationals stuck in Kharkiv and other conflict zones.

He said at a high-level meeting on the Ukraine crisis, PM Narendra Modi expressed deep anguish over the loss of life of an Indian citizen in Kharkiv.

“We remain very concerned over the situation in Kharkiv, Sumy and other conflict zones,” Shringla said.

“Over the next three days, 26 flights have been scheduled to bring back Indian citizens,” he said.

Shringla said a C-17 IAF aircraft is expected to fly out at 4 am on Wednesday to Romania to repatriate our citizens.

India has been operating flights to bring back Indians from Romania and Hungary after they crossed over to these countries.

Shringla also said Prime Minister Modi received a call from President of France Emmanuel Macron. Modi also spoke to the President of Poland.

Apart from Bucharest and Budapest, airports in Poland and the Slovak Republic will also be used to operate evacuation flights, he said.

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