Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday spoke to the father of Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar, an Indian student, who died in shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine, earlier in the day. The PM convened another high-level meeting later in the day in the wake of the tragedy.
The meeting was attended by Union ministers S Jaishankar and Piyush Goyal and foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla among others. The PM has been holding similar meetings over the past few days as the government undertakes a massive evacuation process to bring back stranded Indians from the war-hit nation.
Earlier, Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, mourning the death of 21-year-old final-year medical student from Haveri in the state, said all efforts would be made to bring the deceased’s body back to the country. He further said two persons were with the deceased at the time of shelling. “One of them also got injured. They are also from Chalageri and Ranebennur taluk of Haveri district,” Bommai was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s ambassador to India Igor Polikha paid a visit to the ministry of external affairs (MEA).
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said foreign secretary Harsh Vandhan Shringla was calling in ambassadors of Russia and Ukraine to reiterate India’s demand for urgent safe passage for its nationals who are still in Kharkiv and cities in other conflict zones.
“The Indian side reiterated its demand to Russia and Ukraine for safety and safe passage for Indian nationals caught up in conflict zones, mostly in eastern and southern Ukraine,” he said.
According to reports, Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, saw at least 10 deaths and 35 injured during the day in rocket strikes by Russian forces. In a social media post, interior ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said the toll would rise as debris was being cleared.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine was on its sixth day and came at a cost of unprecedented sanctions on the Kremlin by the West and an outpouring of global condemnation. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the European Parliament during the day.
