The situation in Ukraine is likely to be discussed in Parliament for two hours.
new Delhi:
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will reply to the debate in the Lok Sabha on the situation in Ukraine on Wednesday.
The discussion was initiated by RSP member NK Premachandran and Congress MP Manish Tewari on Tuesday, with members from several parties lauding the government for its efforts to evacuate Indian students from Ukraine and also expressing concern about their future studies. .
Four Union ministers – Hardeep Singh Puri, Kiren Rijiju, Jyotiraditya Scindia and General VK Singh – who had visited neighboring Ukraine as special envoys of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the evacuation effort, also participated in the debate.
Congress members spoke of the relevance of the principles of non-alignment to the complex geopolitical situation arising out of the Ukraine-Russia crisis.
Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Puri said that Operation Ganga, which was undertaken to rescue stranded Indians from Ukraine, was one of the most well-coordinated and successful evacuation missions anywhere in the world.
Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that many countries have closed their missions in Ukraine due to the conflict and “India is the only one who had done its mission till the last Indian citizen was brought back”.
“When the war started, we heard a lot of comments – why was the advisory not issued in time? India is one of the major countries that issued advisories earlier. We issued advisories on 15th, 18th, 20th and 21st February – Four advices,” he said. said.
“PM Modi took command in his hands as ‘Pradhan Sevak’, as protector of every Indian citizen. Meetings used to happen day and night. As Hardeep Puri said he was in Guwahati, I was in MP. We got a call at 11.30 pm calling us back to Delhi, will be sent to Romania and Moldova,” he said.
Mr Scindia said that IndiGo operated 35 flights, Air India 14, GoFirst 6, Air Asia three, Air India Express nine, SpiceJet nine and Indian Air Force four C-17 Globemasters. Filled up and evacuated Indian citizens safely.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation General VK Singh said, “The work that our country has done, no other country has done it.”
He also talked about the efforts made in Ukraine to expel Harjot Singh, an Indian student who was shot.
Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the Indian Embassy staff contributed in the evacuation work by risking their lives.
Participating in the debate, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah lauded the government’s effort in bringing back Indian students.
He said Russia felt “threatened” by Ukraine’s moves to join NATO.
He recalled that Russia had signed an agreement with India that they had not signed with any other country.
He said, “India was the only country with which Russia, our ambassador DP Dhar, signed an agreement – he didn’t sign it with anyone – that a war against India would be a war on Russia. Never forget that “
Farooq Abdullah said that India is a neutral country and has never taken sides.
“We are friends of America and we are friends of Russia. We are not enemies of any of these countries. This is one of the biggest things the country has done since the time of Nehru. Whatever one may say, it is because of Nehru. It was a foreign policy of being neutral with friends from all sides so that we can move forward and take this country out of poverty and take it to the level of a developed country.
Congress member Shashi Tharoor said the Russia-Ukraine crisis has geopolitical implications.
“In the short term, there are some very worrying consequences. I would say that the Ukraine war has exposed India’s strategic weaknesses in a difficult neighborhood, but nothing else. It will raise some fundamental questions for our security,” he said. said.
“We are seeing Russia and China becoming more and more close to each other and if Russia weakens as a result of this misadventure, which almost certainly will happen, its weakening will give China the upper hand in that regard. Can give a hand. In these circumstances, Russia or Russia coming with China is a matter of great concern for us.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)