PM Modi briefs President, holds meet to intensify rescue operations in Ukraine

New Delhi, March 1

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called on President Ram Nath Kovind and briefed him about the ongoing Ukraine crisis and the government’s response.

Later in the day, the PM held a high-level meeting to discuss the intensification of rescue operations, with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in attendance.

The evening meeting came hours after the tragic news of the death of an Indian student in shelling in Kharkiv.

The PM is learnt to have told top ranking government officials to “do all it takes” to bring every stranded Indian to safety, including the mobilisation of IAF’s C-17s, the heavy lift military aircrafts.

Diplomatic engagement was underway to seek clearance for C-17s for the Operation Ganga plan, said sources.

Earlier today, the PM briefed the President about the departure of four Union Ministers as his Special Envoys to travel to neighbouring countries of Ukraine (Romania, Moldova, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland) and lead evacuations of stranded Indians.