India on Tuesday sent the first tranche of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine through Poland, informed Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Trend reports citing Zee5.
The consignment comprised medicines, medical equipment and other relief material.
Mentioning humanitarian assistance to Ukraine at the request of the Ukrainian Government, Shringla said, “A flight left this morning having the first tranche of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine through Poland. The consignment comprised of medicines, medical equipment and other relief materials.”
“Another flight tomorrow will carry the second consignment also through Poland and besides medicines, a number of other items are also there for humanitarian use in Ukraine,” he said in a special briefing on ‘Operation Ganga’ to bring back Indian citizens from the conflict zone of Ukraine by the Ministry of External Affairs.
As per MEA sources, two tonnes of humanitarian aid including tents, blankets, surgical gloves, protective eye gear, water storage tanks, sleeping mats, tarpaulin and medicines have been sent to Ukraine today.
The meeting began with an expression of deep regret and condolences on the tragic death of Naveen Shekharappa, an Indian student who was studying at Kharkiv National Medical University
“Earlier this afternoon I separately called in the Ambassadors of Russia and Ukraine. I reiterated strongly our demand for urgent safe passage for all Indian nationals who are still in Kharkiv and other cities in the conflict area,” said Shringla.
He also informed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has yesterday spoken to his counterparts from the Slovak Republic and Romania to seek their assistance in continued support to our evacuation efforts.
“Yesterday PM Modi talked to the Slovak Republic Prime Minister Eduard Heger and Romanian counterpart Nicolae Ciuca and also spoke to the President of Poland Andrzej Duda to seek their assistance in the evacuation of Indians from the conflict zones,” said Shringla.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting to review the efforts to bring back stranded Indians in Ukraine.
The meeting is being attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and senior officials.
“PM Modi has also received calls. This happened as we were at the meeting, from the President of France Emmanuel Macron and the President of the European Union Commission, Charles Michel. We are certainly reaching out diplomatically to all concerned to ensure the safety, security and protection of our citizens in Ukraine,” said the Foreign Secretary.
Detailing about the evacuation process, Shringla said that the ministry has examined every possible option for safe passage, adding that he had emphasized to both Russian and Ukrainian officials the importance of providing a corridor to enable Indian citizens to get out of the conflict zone.
“Earlier this afternoon I separately called in the Ambassadors of Russia and Ukraine. I reiterated strongly our demand for urgent safe passage for all Indian nationals who are still in Kharkiv and other cities in the conflict area,” said Shringla.