Govt committed to bring back every Indian national stuck in Ukraine: MoS V Muraleedharan

MoS V Muraleedharan assured that India is committed to bringing every national stranded in Ukraine back home and urged parents not to panic.

Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan on Wednesday urged parents not to panic, assuring that India is committed to bringing every national back home.

At a press conference in Pune, he said, "The govt of India has announced that every Indian citizen will be brought back. The government will bear the expenditure of every Indian who is evacuated from Ukraine."

He rubbished talk of delays by the government in initiating the evacuation. He said, "There has been no delay by the Govt of India in the evacuation of students from Ukraine. The embassy has been monitoring the situation, it has been advising on the basis of the security situation there."

Further, he said the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary were trying to facilitate the return of Indian nationals from Ukraine.

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"The PM has already spoken to Russian President Putin and Ukraine's Zelenskyy. The foreign minister has also spoken to the neighbouring country's foreign ministers and our foreign secretary has held two rounds of discussion with Ukrainian and Russian Ambassadors in Delhi. We have requested them to facilitate the evacuation of Indian students in the conflict zones," he said.

When asked about complaints by Indian students that students of other nationalities were given preference, the minister said he was unaware of any such incident.