India on Thursday said it has not received any report of a hostage situation involving Indian students in Kharkiv and that it has requested the support of Ukraine in arranging special trains for taking them out from the city and neighbouring areas.
India's comments came hours after Russia claimed that some Indian students were "actually taken hostage" by Ukrainian security forces, who use them as a "human shield" and in every possible way prevent them from leaving for Russian territory.
Separately, the Ukrainian foreign ministry "urgently called on the governments of India, Pakistan, China and other counties whose students have become hostages of the Russian armed aggression in Kharkiv and Sumy, to demand from Moscow that it allows the opening of a humanitarian corridor to other Ukrainian cities."
Some Indian students were stuck in the besieged eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and several other conflict zones and India has asked both Russia and Ukraine to facilitate their safe passage to the border transit points for their exit to neighbouring countries.
"Our Embassy in Ukraine is in continuous touch with Indian nationals in Ukraine. We note that with the cooperation of the Ukrainian authorities, many students have left Kharkiv yesterday," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
"We have not received any report of any hostage situation regarding any student. We have requested the support of the Ukrainian authorities in arranging special trains for taking out students from Kharkiv and neighbouring areas to the western part of the country," he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed the safe evacuation of the Indian nationals from the conflict areas in Ukraine including
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