New Delhi/Bengaluru: In first Indian casualty in the war in Ukraine, a medical student from Karnataka was killed in shelling in Kharkiv city, just hours after the Indian embassy in Kyiv asked all stranded Indians to leave the capital city urgently “through any means available”.
Also on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened a high-level meeting, his fourth in the last 48 hours on Ukraine.
Earlier in the day, Modi asked the Indian Air Force (IAF) to evacuate Indians stranded in Ukraine, sources said, adding the force is likely to deploy several C-17 aircraft, which has the capacity to carry approximately 300 passengers, as part of Operation Ganga.
Till now, only private Indian carriers have been evacuating Indians from Romania and Hungary, countries with land borders with Ukraine on the western side, as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24.
Confirming the death of the student, the external affairs ministry said it was in touch with the family of the victim.
Modi also spoke to the father of Indian student Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagoudar and offered his heartfelt condolences to the family following the tragedy, official sources said.
According to Naveen’s uncle, he was in a bunker in Kharkiv and had gone out in the morning to exchange currency and to fetch some food when he was caught shelling happened, in which he was killed instantaneously.
Naveen was in the fourth year of his course in the Kharkiv medical college.
The Kharkiv city is witnessing increasing fighting between the Ukrainian troops and Russian forces.
Official sources said the deteriorating situation in Kharkiv is a matter of grave concern and that the safety and security of Indian nationals in that city is of utmost priority for the government.
Earlier, the Indian embassy in Kyiv said, “All Indian nationals including students are advised to leave Kyiv urgently today. Preferably by available trains or through any other means available.”
The advisory came amid increasing fighting between Russian forces and Ukrainian troops around Kyiv.
Meanwhile, Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and Kiren Rijiju left for Hungary and Slovakia respectively, a day after the government decided to send four Union ministers as India’s special envoys to neighbouring countries of Ukraine to oversee the evacuation of Indians from the war-torn country through its border crossings.
The other ministers who will oversee the evacuation process are–V K Sngh and Jyotiraditya Scindia. Singh had left on Monday night for Poland.
The MEA said Foreign Secretary is calling in ambassadors of Russia and Ukraine to reiterate its demand for “urgent safe passage” to Indian nationals who are still in Kharkiv and in other cities in the conflict zones.
“Similar action is also being undertaken by our ambassadors in Russia and Ukraine,” the MEA said.
They said India has already taken up with the Russian and Ukrainian embassies the “pressing” requirement of safe passage to Indian nationals, including students, from Kharkiv and other cities in conflict zones.
“This demand has been repeatedly made to Russia and Ukraine since the beginning of this conflict on February 24. It has been conveyed to both their ambassadors in New Delhi as well as taken up in their capitals,” said a source.
“An Indian team has been positioned in the Russian city of Belgorod, close to the Ukrainian border. However, the conflict situation in and around Kharkiv and nearby cities has been an obstacle,” the source said.
“Therefore, it is imperative that Russia and Ukraine respond to our need for safe passage urgently,” it said
The sources said in places where the conflict has not endangered movement, Indian authorities have been able to evacuate the citizens. They said India will continue to make utmost efforts to ensure the return of Indian citizens stranded in Ukraine.
