New Delhi, Mar 3(FN Agency) Around 1,000 Indians left Kharkiv yesterday and are in a school in the safe zone of Pesochyn, in eastern Ukraine, and are being provided with food and water, the MEA said on Thursday. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that India is closely following the developments in Kharkiv and Sumy where fresh fighting has broken out. He also said that the government is looking at ways to transport the Indians in Pesochyn to western or southern Ukraine for evacuation. He also said that a couple of hundred Indians are still in Kharkiv and Sumy, and the government is trying its best to bring them out.
An Indian embassy team is moving towards eastern Ukraine, in order to reach the area where the Indians are, to assist with the evacuation. Bagchi said that India is in touch at various levels with all countries, particularly the Ukrainians and the Russians, for safe passage for the Indian nationals. Asked about the Russian input of yesterday asking Indians to leave Kharkiv, he said that India was given a “specific input” asking that the Indians in Kharkiv to leave the war-hit city by 6 pm local time and move to three safe zones. “We got the specific input, saying this the route that is available, these are the places that Indian citizens should go and by this time; and we conveyed it to our citizens; and I am happy that many could make it, though not in the best of circumstances perhaps. I think there were sporadic incidents of violence; this is a war zone. I am happy that a significant number of people could come out,” he added.
On reports that Russia gave India a time window to get its citizens out of Kharkiv during which it would not bomb the city, the spokesperson dismissed the notion. “Extrapolating that (Russian inputs) to say that somebody is holding off bombing, and or that this is something we are coordinating; that is absolutely inaccurate; and I don’t think.., and if I could be more facetious then it could extrapolate itself to, then we could order resumption of bombing; I think that is getting a bit much ahead of ourselves,” he said. Responding to a similar question, he said: “War was stopped (in Kharkiv) is again a language I am not.. We were told that this is the way to get our citizens out, I will limit myself to that. Whether the war was stopped or not stopped, and who stopped it, I am not getting into that.” In an urgent advisory, the Indian Embassy in Kyiv yesterday asked Indians in Kharkiv to leave immediately, even by foot, and proceed to Pesochyn, Babai, or Bezlyudivka as soon as possible for their safety. On a safe passage for the Indians in Kharkiv and Sumy, the spokesperson said: “We have been pressing all sides on a safe passage for our citizens; if the Russians have a solution to the corridor, great, that’s the way to go. Like I said, we had some indication yesterday of a way out to the southwest of Kharkiv, we took that.”
“We are continuing to press all sides to see if we can get a safe passage from all the areas in conflict zones where the Indians are stranded.” He stressed that the Indians in Pesochyn “are on Ukrainian territory, they are free, the embassy has arranged for them in a school, they are getting food, and from there they will be brought out in buses or trains. We are still trying to work it out.” He said that “neither the Ukrainians or the Russians are involved in this” – on bringing out the Indians. “Yes, the territory is Ukrainian, and the security the Ukrainians are providing; we want to bring them out quickly. There were three places (mentioned as safe zones), but it so transpired that all the Indians reached there (Pesochyn), we know 1,000 of them are there,” he added. He also reiterated that they have not received any reports of Indians being held hostage by the Ukrainians, as was alleged by the Russians yesterday. The spokesperson said in a statement “Our Embassy in Ukraine is in continuous touch with Indian nationals in Ukraine. We note that with the cooperation of the Ukrainian authorities, many students have left Kharkiv yesterday. “We have not received any reports of any hostage situation regarding any student. We have requested support of the Ukrainian authorities in arranging special trains for taking out students from Kharkiv and neighbouring areas to the western part of the country.
“We have been coordinating effectively with the countries in the region including Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova. A large number of Indian nationals have been evacuated from Ukraine in the last few days. We appreciate the help extended by the Ukrainian authorities to make this possible. We thank Ukraine’s western neighbours in receiving Indian nationals and for accommodating them while they waited for flights to take them back home,” the statement said. On the number of Indians who were in Ukraine, he said that 20,000 had registered with the Embassy in Kyiv, but acknowledged that there could be some who would not have registered. He said 18,000 have left Ukraine since January, and there are a couple of thousand left, with 1,000 in Pesochyn, along with a couple of hundred still left in Kharkiv and Sumy. “There could be some people who did not register, and may pop up later. We will certainly bring them back,” he added.