India decides to temporarily relocate embassy from Ukraine to Poland
New Delhi, Mar 13: India has decided to temporarily relocate its embassy in Ukraine to Poland in view of the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the war-torn country including the Russian military offensive in its western region.
The decision comes as Russian troops are closing in on key Ukrainian cities and towns including the capital Kyiv.
"In view of the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Ukraine, including attacks in the western parts of the country, it has been decided that the Indian Embassy in Ukraine will be temporarily relocated to Poland," the Ministry of External Affairs said.
"The situation will be reassessed in the light of further developments," it said in a brief statement.
A significant number of officials in the Indian embassy in Kyiv was already working from its camp office in Lviv for the last few days.
The camp office of the embassy was set up in Lviv as part of efforts to evacuate Indian citizens from Ukraine through land border crossings.
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine that is around 70 kilometres from the border with Poland.
India brought back over 18,100 of its nationals from across Ukraine under its evacuation mission 'Operation Ganga' that was launched on February 26 in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
India evacuated its nationals from Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova after they crossed over to these countries from Ukraine through land border transit points.
Ukraine had closed its airspace for civilian aircraft after Russia began the military operation.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security that reviewed India's security preparedness, and the prevailing global scenario in the context of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
An official statement said Modi was briefed on the latest developments in Ukraine, including the details of Operation Ganga to evacuate Indian nationals, along with some citizens of India's neighbouring countries, from Ukraine.
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Low visibility prevents PM’s helicopter from landing in Taherpur, Modi returns to Kolkata airport
Kolkata (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s helicopter failed to land at the Taherpur helipad in West Bengal owing to low visibility on account of dense fog in the area on Saturday, an official said.
The PM’s chopper made a U-turn after hovering over the helipad ground for a while and returned to the Kolkata airport, he said.
Till reports last received, the Prime Minister was waiting at the airport for further updates on the weather situation.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Modi would reach the rally venue district by road or whether he would wait for the weather to clear up and make another attempt to reach Taherpur by the aerial route, the official said.
Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister reached Kolkata at around 10.40 am and took a chopper onward to Taherpur in Nadia district, where he is scheduled to hold an administrative programme to launch highway projects in West Bengal, followed by a political rally of the BJP, titled Parivartan Sankalpa Sabha, which he is supposed to address.
