Indian diplomat Venu Rajamony has reacted vehemently to the union government's poor evacuation strategy for repatriating citizens stranded in war-torn Ukraine.
The former Ambassador of India to the Netherlands has questioned the logic behind evacuating Indians from the relatively peaceful western Ukraine when thousands of Indians were surviving Russian attacks in the east and northeast of the European nation.
“When the evacuation started, the focus should have been on eastern Ukraine. Anyone could have guessed that the first attacks would land in areas bordering Russia,” said Rajamony, who is currently Kerala government's Officer on Special Duty, External Cooperation.
India has been evacuating its citizens through western Ukraine bordering Romania, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.
Indian citizens, mostly medical students in Chernivtsi, Lviv and other western cities were the first ones to reach safety while the government continued its appeal to those stuck further east to "keep moving westwards”.
“These students should not be tortured this way. They are hiding in bunkers for the last seven days, they were not given any directions.
“They should have been relocated to western Ukraine at the beginning. We didn't do that. Instead of that, we are celebrating the evacuation of Indians from the peaceful western parts,” Rajamony told Manorama News.
Rajamony said that the chief minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan had, on February 27th, asked the prime minister to initiate immediate talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “But the PM is only going to talk to Putin today. Our actions were delayed. We should have prioritised the students of Kharkiv and Sumy. They are in dire straits.”
Kneejerk reactions and photo ops
The other day the government of India decided to send four senior ministers to oversee the evacuation process.
Those designated for the mission are Hardeep Suri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and VK Singh, who have since travelled to the neighbouring countries in the west of Ukraine.
Rajamony has criticised the move and dubbed it 'photo ops'.
“We should have pressurised Russia and ensured a safe passage. If we have such a strong relationship with Russia why couldn't we send our external affairs minister to Russia instead of sending ministers to neighbouring countries?
“Ministers are being sent over there. Photo opportunities are created. But the lives of the students are in danger now. Meanwhile, our challenges that lie within Ukraine remain unresolved,” said Rajamony.