Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is about to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today, as the sources have revealed amid desperate efforts to evacuate hundreds of Indians stranded in Ukraine.
This morning, Russia has said it will hold fire and open humanitarian corridors in several cities of Ukraine, including the capital city of Kyiv. As per the reports citing the Russian defence ministry as saying that the corridors, also to be opened from Kharkiv, Mariupol and Sumy, are being set up at the personal request of French President Emmanuel Macron and in view of the current situation in those cities.
Indian Prime Minister Modi is expected to speak to President Zelenskyy first before calling President Putin in the afternoon.
Earlier, Mr Modi has talked to Mr Putin for two times since the beginning of the war. He had spoken to President Zelenskyy last on February 26 days after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. That dialogue followed India’s abstention from a United Nations vote to denounce Russian aggression.
Meanwhile, India has been putting efforts to evacuate hundreds of Indians, specifically students, still stranded in war-hit Ukraine. New Delhi, the capital of India, has been continuously urging Moscow to impose a ceasefire to enable the evacuation of Indian students abandoned after Russian troops invaded Ukraine in late February.
Students stranded in a medical college hostel in the Ukrainian city of Sumy were told yesterday by the Indian Embassy to “be ready to leave on short notice.” A team of officials has been stationed in Poltava, nearly a three-hour drive from Sumy- to coordinate the safe passage of the students.
Meanwhile, students struck in Sumy shared several videos saying they had decided to take a risky journey to the Russian border almost 50 kilometres away. However, they decided to stay put after the government contacted them and advised them to “avoid unnecessary risks.”