The precarious rescue of Indian nationals, mostly students, from Sumy in north-eastern Ukraine began with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s separate telephonic conversations with President Putin of Russia and President Zelensky of Ukraine on Monday.
“In both calls, the leaders gave their green signal and told the Prime Minister that they did not have a problem with safe passage,” the Indian Express (IE) quoted an official as saying.
The calls provided a massive impetus to create a “humanitarian corridor” to rescue around 700 Indian nationals stuck in the city which was receiving heavy bombardment.
Also pulling out all stops to ensure the safe passage were External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar as well as the Defence Ministry officials and Indian ambassadors to Russia and Ukraine who were in contact with top officials in Kiev and Moscow, as per the IE report.
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The Red Cross in Geneva was contacted as well to mobilize their resources in local areas to aid the rescue.
After several crucial telephonic communications, the humanitarian corridor was given a go-ahead at midnight on Monday, the report further says.
Meanwhile, students were asked not to use social media to give their location so as to ensure their safety.
The Indian embassy has deployed officials and staff members in three cities near Sumy.
Vehicles (buses/cars) as well as drivers were scouted by the Embassy as well as their local contacts. Even though it was a hard task as the buses were being used by the Ukrainian army, the vehicles were finally arranged.
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The drivers were hired too, with much help from the locals. Fuel, which was critical for this operation, was arranged with the help of locals as well, the IE report further says.
The 12 buses finally reached Sumy on Tuesday. The students were picked up from the hostel they were stuck in.
The students, as per official reports, reached Poltava on Tuesday. They will be boarding a train to western Ukraine from where they will cross the border.
The students are expected to fly back to India on March 10th or 11th, the report says.
India on Monday had expressed concerns at the UN Security Council that both the Russian and Ukrainian sides had failed to negotiate a "safe corridor" for the evacuation of Indian nationals from Sumy in north-eastern Ukraine.
The Indian Embassy in Ukraine on Tuesday announced that it has evacuated 52 out of 75 Indian sailors at the port of Mykolaiv in the war-hit nation.
The remaining 23 sailors were also evacuated and all the sailors, including Libyan and Syrian sailors, have crossed the Moldova border and are on their way to Bucharest.
18,000 Indians have been brought back on special flights till date. As of 7th March, 22,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine.
