Sixty pc of Indian citizens have left Ukraine so far, says Shringla

New Delhi: Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Tuesday said out of an estimated 20,000 Indian citizens in Ukraine, 60 per cent have left the country since the first advisory was issued by the government.

Briefing the media about the evacuation of Indians including students from Ukraine in the wake of Russian military operations, he said India remains very concerned about the situation in Kharkiv and other areas which are currently in the conflict zone.

"We had an estimated 20,000 Indian nationals in Ukraine at the time we issued our first advisory. Approximately 12,000 have left Ukraine so far, which means 60 per cent of the people have left the country.

Of the remaining 40 per cent, roughly half remain in the conflict zone in Kharkiv and the other half have either reached the western border of Ukraine or are heading towards the western border.

They are generally out of conflict areas," Shringla said.

He said high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was held on the Ukraine situation today.

"The meeting began with the expression of deep regret and condolence of the tragic death of India student Naveen Shekharappa who was studying in Ukraine. We remain very concerned about the situation in Kharkiv and other areas which are currently in the conflict zone," he said.

The Foreign Secretary he had called the Ambassadors of Russia and Ukraine and reiterated strongly India's demand for urgent safe passage for all Indian nationals.

"We have sent a team of our officers in our mission in Moscow to the border region of Russia adjoining. This team is currently in Belgorod which is not far from Kharkiv.

The function of the team is to examine all the options in terms of the route out the accommodation for our people, the transportation option.

Essentially the team is in place and ready to see whatever we can do to extract our students and citizen from the Kharkiv, Sumi area," he said.

"Evacuation of Kharkiv is now our top priority," Shringla added.

He said over the next three days, 26 flights have been scheduled to bring out Indian citizens apart from Bucharest and Budapest.

"Airports in Poland and Slovak Republic will also be used," Shringla said.

The seventh flight carrying 182 Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine reached Mumbai from Romania's Bucharest as part of Operation Ganga on Tuesday. (ANI)