|
New
Delhi,
Feb
28:
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi
on
Monday
stressed
the
importance
of
respecting
the
sovereignty
and
territorial
integrity
of
nations,
as
he
spoke
to
his
counterparts
from
the
Slovak
Republic
and
Romania
to
seek
their
continued
assistance
in
the
evacuation
of
Indian
citizens
from
Ukraine,
which
has
been
attacked
by
Russia.
The
Prime
Minister’s
Office
(PMO)
said
Modi,
in
his
telephonic
conversations
with
Slovak
Prime
Minister
Eduard
Heger
and
his
Romanian
counterpart
Nicolae-Ionel
Ciuca,
also
expressed
his
anguish
at
the
ongoing
violence
and
humanitarian
crisis
in
Ukraine,
and
reiterated
India’s
consistent
appeal
for
cessation
of
hostilities
and
a
return
to
dialogue.
He
thanked
the
two
leaders
for
their
countries’ assistance
in
the
evacuation
of
Indian
citizens
from
Ukraine
over
the
last
few
days,
it
said.
The
prime
minister
appreciated
Romania’s
gesture
in
allowing
Indian
citizens
to
enter
the
country
without
visas
and
thanked
the
two
leaders
for
permitting
special
evacuation
flights
from
India.
He
requested
Heger
for
continued
assistance
over
the
next
few
days
as
India
works
to
evacuate
all
its
citizens
from
the
conflict
zones,
the
PMO
said.
Modi
also
informed
Ciuca
and
Heger
about
the
deployment
of
Union
ministets
Jyotiraditya
Scindia
and
Kiren
Rijiju
as
his
special
envoys
to
oversee
the
evacuation
efforts
of
the
Indian
citizens
over
the
next
few
days
in
coordination
with
the
local
authorities
from
their
countries
respectively.
Stepping
up
its
efforts
to
evacuate
thousands
of
Indians
stuck
in
Ukraine,
the
government
on
Monday
decided
to
send
four
Union
ministers
to
the
neighbouring
countries
of
the
east
European
nation
to
coordinate
the
evacuation
process
even
as
the
external
affairs
ministry
said
nearly
8,000
nationals
have
returned
from
the
war-hit
country
in
the
last
fortnight.
PTI
KR
RC
Story first published: Monday, February 28, 2022, 23:47 [IST]