For the second time in two days, India raised the Russian President’s claim Vladimir Putin Thursday that more than 3,000 Indians were held hostage at the Kharkiv train station in East Ukraine by the Ukrainian military.
New Delhi fought no reports like that even when called “local ceasefire” which can help make students stranded – estimated 2,000 – in East Ukraine to the bus waiting 40-60 km away on the way to our war border -ravaged state.
Asked about Putin’s statement, an external ministry spokesman Arinindam Bagchi said Friday: “We issued a statement yesterday. I clarified again … I did not know the existence of an Indian who was taken hostage. I mean, unless you have some information that I don’t have, they experience The difficulty came out because of the security situation in several places, especially, I would say at Sumy and in the city of Kharkiv. But I haven’t heard anyone held hostage. “
Senior officials said the comments of the Putin hostage were more rhetoric war than reality. Speaking to Indian Express, an upper official in security establishment said that almost all Indian students have active cellphone connections and related to their parents, representatives from the Indian government and in many cases, media.
“None of them describe any situation from them being in captivity or hostage or detained on their wishes,” the official said. “Yes, they might say some Ukrainian authorities are not cooperative and we try our best to do it.”
More importantly, the official said, there was no price entered for “release” of Indian students. “There are no Indian students who say that even the RS 500 has been demanded for their secure trips to the evacuation site. There are no demands for ransomans have reached the government. So how can we describe this as a hostage situation?” Said the top official.
Meanwhile, according to the separation of Bagchi from students who are stranded, there are 2000-3000 in all: 300 in Kharkiv; 700 in Sumy, where a fierce battle continues; More than 900 in Pisochyn, the suburb of the city of Kharkiv, from which some are evacuated in five buses to the Western border both to Lviv or Moldova where there is a batch below 1,000 others.
“The problem (core) is how to make these students from their location in Kharkiv, Sumy, and other areas to share the eastern border with Russia … there are buses waiting there, but the route is about 50 to 60 km through Conflict. area. They are too far away and cannot walk that distance. We want a safe passage for students through the area … without a local ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, it is difficult to bring these students to the bus. We don’t want to cross Stretching where it is at risk … we appeal and urge the parties to have a local ceasefire, “said the spokesman.
In a guarantee that Russia and Ukraine agreed to create a humanitarian corridor to help civilians out, Bagchi said: “We haven’t seen anything further with it in terms of implementation … If that happens, it will definitely help our process.”
About 20,000 Indian citizens so far cross the torn Ukrainian border, said MEA, because the report appeared about a Delhi student was shot several times but miraculously survived the attack.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led another meeting to review the ongoing situation in Ukraine amid evacuation. The Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar, Minister of Union Piyush Goyal and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was among those who attended the meeting.
When India’s efforts to save their citizens collected steam, he happened that Harjot Singh, a student from Chhatarpur Delhi, was beaten with four bullets, including one on his chest, as he tried to escape Kyiv. The spokesman said he was in the hospital and the government relates to his doctor and will bear his medical costs.
Bagchi said India had evacuated Bangladesh citizens as part of his mission to bring back the Indians stranded. He said 15 flights landed in India as part of the evacuation mission for the past 24 hours, bringing back more than 3,000 people, and 16 is more scheduled for the next 24 hours.