PM Modi chairs high-level meeting on Ukraine crisis, says entire govt machinery working round the clock

New Delhi, Feb 28: Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting, his second today, to review the ongoing efforts under Operation Ganga to bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine on Monday evening. The Prime Minister said that the entire government machinery is working round the clock to ensure that all Indian nationals there are safe and secure.

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, Foreign Secretary of India Harsh V Shringla, Union Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju, among other senior bureaucrats, attended the meeting.

"PM @narendramodi chaired a high level meet, his second today, to review the ongoing efforts under #OperationGanga to bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine. PM said that the entire government machinery is working round the clock to ensure that all Indians there are safe & secure," Bagchi tweeted.

In a series of tweets, Bagchi said that during the meeting the Prime Minister pointed that the visit of four senior ministers as his 'Special Envoys' to various nations will energize the evacuation efforts. "Prime Minister pointed that the visit of four senior ministers as his Special Envoys to various nations will energize the evacuation efforts. It is reflective of the priority the Government attaches to this matter," he tweeted.

The Prime Minister noted that the first consignment of relief supplies to Ukraine to deal with the humanitarian situation on Ukraine's borders would be despatched tomorrow.

Guided by India's motto of the world being one family, Prime Minister also stated that India will help people from neighbouring countries and developing countries who are stranded in Ukraine and may seek assistance.

The first meeting started last evening after the videos of students stranded in Ukraine went viral on social media. Earlier in the day, the PM had a meeting with several ministers and the decision to send ministers to border nations to smoothen the evacuation process.

Union ministers Hardeep Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and V K Singh will travel to its neighbouring countries to coordinate the evacuation mission and help students.

Scindia will take care of evacuation efforts from Romania and Moldova while Rijiju will go to Slovakia. Puri will go to Hungary while Singh will be in Poland to manage the evacuation.