India urging citizens to consider temporarily leaving Ukraine

In the wake of heightened tensions over a build-up of Russian forces on the border, India encouraged its citizens in Ukraine to "consider leaving temporarily" and to avoid all non-essential travel within the eastern European country.

In Ukraine, there are almost 20,000 Indians, including 18,000 students. During recent discussions with Indian TV news channels, some students expressed concern about the current state of uncertainty in Ukraine.

“In view of the uncertainties of the current situation in Ukraine, Indian nationals in Ukraine, particularly students whose stay is not essential, may consider leaving temporarily.” It added, “Indian nationals are also advised to avoid all non-essential travel to and within Ukraine,” the Indian embassy in Kiev made the following statement. The statement urged Indian nationals to alert the Indian embassy about the situation,  “status of their presence in Ukraine to enable the embassy to reach them when required”. The embassy “continues to function normally to provide all services to Indian nationals in Ukraine”.

Given the tight strategic ties between New Delhi and Moscow, India has so far refrained from criticizing Russia's actions along the Ukrainian border. It has, however, advocated for continued diplomatic efforts to bring the crisis in Ukraine to a peaceful conclusion.

In recent days, US officials have warned that Russia may invade Ukraine as soon as this week, but have expressed faith that diplomacy will be able to find a solution. According to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the US will close its embassy in Kiev and relocate the remaining diplomatic workers to Lviv.

Over the weekend, US President Joe Biden met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but little progress was made. The White House maintained its faith in dialogue but said on Monday that Russian forces stationed on Ukraine's borders were obstructing de-escalation.

In answer to a query concerning Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's remarks that the opportunity for diplomacy has not closed, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre stated, "We are actively working to reach a diplomatic solution to de-escalate the crisis."

“And Ukraine is just a part of the problem, it’s a part of the bigger problem of security guarantees for Russia and of course, President Putin is willing to negotiate,” Putin, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, has sought negotiations as well as guarantees for Russia's security.

"Our Embassy in Kyiv is also monitoring local developments. We call for a peaceful resolution of the situation through sustained diplomatic efforts for long-term peace and stability in the region and beyond," he further said.

Moscow has stationed 130,000 troops along the Ukraine-Russia border, raising fears among NATO allies that President Vladimir Putin could invade the country to annexe the country's eastern regions, which are home to a sizable ethnic Russian population.

With permission from United News of Bangladesh, HT Digital Content Services published this story.

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