Two separate phone calls owned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelskyy on Monday set a rolling ball for the last evacuation of around 700 Indians from East Ukraine.
“In both calls, the leaders gave their green signal and notified the prime minister that they had no problems with the safe passage,” an official, who knew the secret of the development which caused evacuation efforts on Tuesday, told Indian Express. .
The source said the call between the leaders gave the initiative “last push”, and the deck was cleaned after officials in Moscow and Kiev received instructions to create “humanitarian corridors”.
The Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar also worked on telephone lines, while the defense ministry official reached out and two Indian ambassadors – Pavan Kapoor in Moscow and Partha Satpathy in Kiev – Liaised with high-ranking officials in two capitals.
The Red Cross in Geneva was also contacted and they warned their units in Ukraine, which helped with several settings.
However, there is intense fear of whether the ceasefire will hold or not, when everyone waits anxiously while the day rolls into the night.
Some phone calls were made and the message was exchanged before the last green signal was almost all the middle of the night on Monday, even when students were asked to stay away from social media – no tweet, no posts on Instagram.
Near Sumy, three teams of Indian officials and local embassy staff are placed in three different cities. Local Ukrainian contacts from embassies also help. Finally, the bus was able to reach Sumy after facing many challenges, the official said.
It’s hard to find the driver, and the vehicle is mostly commanded by Ukrainian army personnel. Some private cars are issued. There is also a shortage of fuel, especially for long trips. Local contact helps once again. Officials consciously, meanwhile, that several roads were broken, and some bridges were destroyed by shooting and around Sumy.
Finally, 12 buses can reach a point in Sumy, where they can pick up students from a hostel. The buses then moved to Poltava in Central Ukraine where they were expected to reach Tuesday night. The next step is for students to take the train to the Western border where they will enter other countries.
After the document is complete, what is expected to take a day, students will fly back to India at least three planes on the morning of 10 or March 11, the source said. “It’s not an easy task to get it out … and there are many challenges, but we succeed without risking anyone’s life,” Other officials, who knew Privy for arrangements, told Indian Express.