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This has to be conveyed to Moscow along with the message that India’s abstention in the UN votes on resolutions condemning Russia doesn’t mean an abdication of national interest. India’s first priority in the Ukraine war is the safety of all Indian students and other citizens in that country, parts of which are being subjected to heavy bombardment by Russian troops. So far, blending diplomacy and logistics, since the invasion began, the Government has brought back home over 15,000 Indian nationals. However, groups of students are still stuck in eastern Ukraine — reports from Sumy, close to the Russian border in northeastern Ukraine, raise deep concern. The town, where 800 Indian students are stuck in miserable conditions, is under near continuous shelling by Russian forces. While a “regime of silence”, or ceasefire, called by Ukraine and Russia to enable civilians to leave the cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha collapsed amid mutual recrimination, it is doubtful if the students stuck in Sumy, 600 km to the north, could have taken advantage of the suspension had it held. They have no access to transport to make such a long journey. The Russian border, towards which these students decided to walk, is closer but is 48 km away and the journey hazardous because of shelling. On an appeal by the MEA that it is making efforts to evacuate them, the students have, for now, called off the journey. The next challenge is to ensure a humanitarian corridor to evacuate those stuck in Sumy, and in the Pisochyn area of Kharkiv, even if it takes more high-level calls between Delhi and Moscow. Both phone conversations between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin dwelt on the safety of Indian citizens. India must lean on him to do more.
At the same time, New Delhi was right to call out Moscow’s specious claim about Indian students being taken hostage by the Ukrainians. As a top official told this newspaper, had that been the case, these young men and women would not have been free to post heart-rending videos and SOS messages on social media, or keep in touch with their family members and friends back home. Not one of them has complained about being held captive or being asked to pay for a safe passage. Certainly though, trapped as they are, these hapless students are hostage to a situation not of their making.
This has to be conveyed to Moscow along with the message that India’s abstention in the UN votes on resolutions condemning Russia doesn’t mean an abdication of national interest. And, right now, India’s national interest is that each of its students stuck in Ukraine following the Russian invasion should return home safe and secure. Over a relationship of decades, Delhi has built enough friendships in the Kremlin to speak frankly and tell its friends how crucial the safety of the students is for the relationship. Russia’s invasion is what has endangered the students, the ball, therefore, is in Moscow’s court.
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