External Affairs Minister Jaishankar told the House, how Indian students were expelled from Ukraine

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said the evacuation of Indian students from the war-torn Ukrainian city of Sumy was not possible without a "credible ceasefire" and Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself worked out a way for it by talking to the Presidents of Russia and Ukraine. Making a statement in the Rajya Sabha on the situation in Ukraine and its impact on India, Jaishankar also said that "Operation Ganga" to evacuate Indians from war-torn Ukraine was one of the most challenging evacuation operations conducted so far.

The Prime Minister had held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on two to three occasions for the evacuation of Indians stranded in the war-torn country. A "safe corridor" was created by both countries for the evacuation of people trapped in Sumi. More than half of the students were in universities in eastern Ukraine, a region that borders Russia and has been the epicenter of the conflict. Students from 35 states/UTs have been evacuated.

Jaishankar said that despite the "serious challenges", India was able to bring back 22,500 of its citizens. He said that after the tension between the two countries increased, India had started the process of registration for Indians living in Ukraine, The first advisory was issued on 15 February followed by two more advisories.