Rahul faults govt's response to Ukraine crisis at panel meet: Report

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who attended the meeting of the Consultative Committee of Parliament on External Affairs to discuss the ongoing Ukraine-Russia crisis, said that the evacuation process of Indians from Ukraine was started late but it should be the priority of the government now, sources said.

The meeting was held at the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.

As per sources, the Wayanad MP raised the issue of China and Pakistan getting closer to Russia. However, he emphasized that the priority is to evacuate Indian students from Ukraine at present.

"Rahul Gandhi raised the issue of China and Pakistan getting closer to Russia but he said that the priority is to evacuate students from Ukraine right now. Congress leader said that we were late in reaction and advisories were confusing," sources said.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar briefed the committee of Parliament meeting amid the ongoing Russian military operations in Ukraine. He gave a presentation about the evacuation process and the current situation.

Giving a clarification on the "late reaction" of the government and "advisories were confusing" statements of the Congress leader, sources stated that Jaishankar responded, saying "students had doubts about their academic position and Ukrainian government was giving assurance on the situation."

Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi raised the issue of the Poland Ambassador calling her tweet "fake" and was retweeted by the MEA handle. Other MPs in the meeting supported her and condemned the act, sources said.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who was also present in the meeting expressed gratitude to Jaishankar over "comprehensive briefing" and "candid responses."

Taking to Twitter, Tharoor said, "Excellent meeting of the Consultative Committee on External Affairs this morning on #Ukraine. My thanks to [?]@DrSJaishankar[?] & his colleagues for a comprehensive briefing & candid responses to our questions & concerns. This is the spirit in which foreign policy should be run."

After the meeting, Jaishankar said that a "good discussion on the strategic and humanitarian aspects of the issue" was done.

"Just completed an MEA consultative committee meeting on developments in Ukraine. A good discussion on the strategic and humanitarian aspects of the issue. The Strong and unanimous message of support for efforts to bring back all Indians from Ukraine," he tweeted.

"A national consensus on the importance of dialogue and diplomacy. Thank all members for their participation," he added. The Indian government has been ramping up its efforts to evacuate its citizen from Ukraine. Special flights have been arranged under 'Operation Ganga'.

Meanwhile, a total of 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the advisories were issued and flights under 'Operation Ganga' have been increased to facilitate the evacuation of remaining students stranded in Ukraine.

The students who left Ukraine also included some Indians who had not registered with the Embassy of India in Kyiv previously.

Further, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting on the issue. The meeting was attended by Union Ministers S Jaishankar, Piyush Goyal, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and other officials.