Why India maintains neutral stand in Russia-Ukraine war? PM Modi answers

Noting that India has connections with both Russia and Ukraine, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said which is the reason why the country has taken a neutral stand in the conflict.

"India has a connection with countries involved in the war - economically, security-wise, education-wise and politically as well. India's several needs are connected to these countries," said PM Modi while giving a victory speech to his party workers in Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) headquarters in New Delhi.

He further asserted that since India has connections with both countries, it is constantly appealing for peace and constant dialogue.

"The ongoing war is affecting every country across the world. India is on side of peace and hopes that all problems are resolved with deliberations," said the PM.

Earlier, India and 34 other countries abstained from a UN General Assembly resolution that censured Russia over its military actions against Ukraine. India had also abstained from the UN Security Council procedural vote to call for a General Assembly session on the Ukraine crisis.

Operation Ganga

Nearly 22,000 Indians, mainly students, have already been evacuated including from the most active dangerous zones like Kharkiv and Sumy in Ukraine. Speaking on the same, "It is unfortunate that even when thousands of Indian students, Indian citizens were stranded in Ukraine, there was talk of breaking the morale of the country," said the Prime Minister.

He also slammed the opposition for trying to regionalize Operation Ganga to evacuate stranded Indian citizens from Ukraine. "These people also tried to regionalize Operation Ganga. These people have given a different colour of regionalism and communalism to every scheme - it is a major worry for India's future," said PM Modi.

The Ministry of External Affairs had deployed more than 50 of its Russian speaking officials to execute Operation Ganga in Ukraine. A special team led by a joint secretary to take on-ground decisions vis-a-vis evacuation inside war-torn Ukraine also flew from New Delhi.