An Indian student evacuated from war-torn Ukraine reunites with family upon her arrival at the IGI Airport in New Delhi on March 7. Source: PTI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 7 spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and sought his support for the evacuation of Indian students stranded in north-eastern Ukraine's Sumy city.
Around 700 Indian students are stranded in Sumy amid intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops. India has been urging both sides to create a “humanitarian corridor” for their safe evacuation.
In his nearly 35-minute conversation with Zelenskyy over phone, Modi sought continued support from the government of Ukraine in ongoing efforts for evacuation of Indian nationals from Sumy, official sources said.
A statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said Modi expressed "deep concern for safety and security of Indian students still in Ukraine and emphasised the need for their quick and safe evacuation."
The Modi-Zelenskyy talks, the second between the two in the last nine days, came on a day Russian authorities said they would start a ceasefire on March 7 and open "humanitarian corridors" in key Ukrainian cities including Kyiv, Kharkiv and Sumy.
Russian news agency Interfax, quoting local authorities, reported that Russia has informed the United Nations, Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) about opening humanitarian corridors in Kyiv, Mariupol, Kharkiv and Sumy.
"The prime minister thanked Ukrainian authorities for their facilitation in evacuating more than 20,000 Indian citizens from Ukraine," the PMO said.
In the last few days, India has been focusing on the evacuation of its students from Sumy.
On March 5 morning, Indian students had posted a video saying they have decided to leave for the Russian border and that the Indian government and the embassy in Ukraine will be responsible if anything happens to them.
Following the video, the Indian embassy in Ukraine requested them not to endanger their lives and conveyed that it will leave no stone unturned to safely evacuate them.
The Indian embassy in Ukraine on March 6 said a team has been stationed in Poltava city to coordinate the safe passage of Indian students in Sumy to Western borders via Poltava.