India does not have any immediate plan to evacuate its citizens from Ukraine and its focus has been on ensuring their safety rather than on anything “larger”, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing that India has been supportive of an immediate de-escalation of tensions and resolution of the Ukraine crisis through sustained diplomatic dialogue.
“We have no immediate evacuation plans, so we don’t have any special flights. However, there are a limited number of flights under the air bubble arrangements, restrictions on a number of flights and passengers have been removed,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing.
He said Indian carriers were being encouraged to operate chartered flights between India and Ukraine. According to reports, there are nearly 20000 Indian nationals in Ukraine, of which some 18000 are students studying in different universities.