NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is likely to brief the consultative committee of his ministry on the government’s effort to evacuate Indians from the conflict zone in Ukraine and the opposition MPs are expected to question the centre’s strategy.
The 21-member Consultative Committee on External Affairs have Congress MPs Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor and Anand Sharma as its members and the opposition MPs are likely to seek reply on issues like delay in evacuation, data related to status of evacuees and Indians still stuck in the conflict zone.
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla is also expected to attend the meeting and brief the members. Jaishankar chairs the consultative committee of his ministry. On Monday, Shringla had briefed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs on ‘Operation Ganga’ launched to evacuate Indians from eastern European nations.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is also a member of the committee, has been questioning the government over the strategy to evacuate Indians stuck in the conflict zone in Ukraine. “To avert further tragedy, the Government must share how many students have been evacuated, how many are still stranded in Ukraine and a region wise detailed evacuation plan,” he tweeted.
Other members Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi have been critical of the government’s action and stand on the matter. Towing a line different from the party’s official stand on Ukraine, Tharoor even questioned India’s abstention from the UN Security Council vote.