The EAM said that Ukrainian authorities, in the beginning, had signaled that the emerging situation was “manageable” and that everything was under control. “We were in constant touch with Ukrainian authorities and even universities. We were very frustrated with some of the universities,” he said.
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Wednesday said that India is ‘deeply disturbed’ by the killings of civilians in Ukraine’s Bucha. “Report of killing of civilians in Ukrainian city is an extremely serious matter. We strongly condemn the killing that has taken place and we support the call for an independent investigation,”said EAM Jaishankar in Lok Sabha in reply to Tuesday’s discussion on the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
He said that India is not in favour of any conflict and no solution can be arrived at by shedding blood at the cost of lives of innocent people. Only dialogue and diplomacy are solutions to any dispute. The EAM said that India supports an immediate end of violence.
“If India has chosen a side, it is a side of peace and it is for an immediate end to violence. This is our principled stand and has consistently guided our position in international forums and debates, including in the UN,” Jaishankar said.
The EAM said that Ukrainian authorities, in the beginning, had signaled that the emerging situation was “manageable” and that everything was under control. “We were in constant touch with Ukrainian authorities and even universities. We were very frustrated with some of the universities,” he said.
On criticism over sending union ministers to evacuate stranded Indian students, he said that the presence of ministers helped the evacuation process. “Had the four ministers not gone to countries neighbouring Ukraine, India would not have got the same level of cooperation from those countries. In fact, the ministers worked as a team,” the minister said, adding that our country has never undertaken such a large-scale evacuation effort in the past and the actions inspired other countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was personally invested in the evacuation, and that he conducted meetings and supervised the situation in the midst of elections.”
He also said that attributing a political colour to India’s actions vis-a-vis the Ukraine situation was unfortunate.