No immediate plan to evacuate Indians from Ukraine, says MEA

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The Ministry of External Affairs said on February 17 it has no immediate plans to evacuate Indians from Ukraine, which according to United States President Joe Biden, runs the risk of being invaded by Russia.

Speaking at a press conference, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said: “There are no immediate evacuation plans; we don’t have any special flights.

A limited number of flights were operating under the air bubble arrangements, but the restrictions on the number of flights and passengers have been removed. Indian carriers are now being encouraged to operate chartered flights between India and Ukraine.”

Also read: Ukraine-Russia crisis: Why should India care

He assured that the embassy is monitoring the developments closely and a few advisories have already been issued accordingly.

Bagchi added: “We have set up control rooms too, but I don’t think any decision on evacuation has been taken. Our embassy continues to function normally and provide services to Indian nationals in Ukraine.”

The MEA spokesperson further said: “When we issue an advisory, we take on board developments that are happening as well as our assessment of how we can assist our citizens there. Our focus is and remains on Indian citizens, Indian students, Indian nationals rather than anything larger than that.”

Also read: Russia-Ukraine conflict explained in 5 points

Notably, though the US President said that “a Russian invasion of Ukraine remains a distinct possibility”, Kremlin has repeatedly denied any plans to their neighbour.

However, Russia has remained strong on its demand that the NATO never admits Ukraine or any other ex-Soviet nation as members and the military alliance roll back troop deployments in the former Soviet bloc nations.