What About Kuwait: Ex Union Minister Yashwant Sinha On Ukraine Airlifts

The opposition Congress and Trinamool Congress have attacked the government, alleging tardy progress of evacuation of Indian students from Ukraine, which is reeling under Russian attack. While Congress's Rahul Gandhi accused the government of "not taking effective steps" and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being "missing in action", Trinamool Congress's Yashwant Sinha pointed out that India had successfully undertaken a far bigger evacuation exercise during the Gulf war in 1990.

Remarking that the estimated number of stranded students in Ukraine was only around 18,000, Mr Sinha - a foreign minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government - said it is "not a very large number compared to airlifts India has done in the past".

India, he pointed out, had evacuated 1,70,000 people from Kuwait between August and October 1990. The whole effort, he pointed out, was supervised by IK Gujral, the former Prime Minister, who was the foreign minister at the time.

"Though elections are still taking place in UP, it will be the height of tragedy to use this occasion to propagate that the government of India has done a fantastic job... The PM talking about this in election rallies in UP is not a very good thing. It is the duty of government to do this," he added.

The government, Mr Sinha said, "knew the crisis was coming" and should have taken timely steps to bring those willing to come back "when the airspace over Ukraine was open".

"Even after the airspace closed, our embassy in Ukraine should have made arrangements to have the students leave by bus or whatever transport available as soon as possible to neighbouring countries," he added.  

The Government, Mr Sinha said, should have been prepared with a contingency plan". While it has now dispatched four ministers to nations bordering Ukraine, it should have been done earlier, he added.

Over the last days, there have been reports of Indian students facing problems at the borders of Romania and Poland. The students claimed that many of them were beaten up and not allowed to cross over when they reached the border after travelling for miles, sometimes on foot in the biting cold.

In videos sent or tweeted, they spoke of having to go without food and water for more than a day and seeing friends collapse under the strain. At the border, they said they are being made to wait for hours while Ukrainians and students from other nations are allowed to cross over.

Regarding the manhandling of students, Mr Sinha said, "I'm told by informed sources that this is because of the government's ambivalent attitude towards the crisis adopted... that is the reason why Ukrainian authorities are not being very helpful".

On Monday, Congress's Rahul Gandhi tweeted a video showing an Indian student stranded in Ukraine alleging that the government has done nothing to help them. The tweet read, "Conditions of Indians stranded in Ukraine are worsening. Yet, GOI is not taking effective steps to bring them home.As usual, PM is MIA."

The Indian embassy has asked students not reach the border directly. They should make their way towards western Ukraine "in consultation with ministry teams and seek shelter in towns".

While around 8,000 Indians have left Ukraine so far - including the 1,396 students who reached India in six evacuation flights - thousands are still stranded in the country.

Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a series of meetings to review the progress of evacuation. He also assured that the entire government machinery is working "round the clock to ensure that all Indian nationals there are safe and secure" in Ukraine.

After reviewing Operation Ganga - the evacuation programme for Indians in Ukraine - this evening, PM Modi pointed out that the visit of four senior ministers as his Special Envoys to nations bordering Ukraine will "energize the evacuation efforts," the foreign ministry said.