Imphal (Manipur): Amid rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine, Former Union Minister and Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Friday said that the Centre must come up with a clear proposal on bringing back the Indians stranded in Ukraine.
Speaking to ANI, he said, “Our children are stuck there. And we seem nowhere to bring them out except for that one flight that got out some people. We claim to be walking tall in the world. But what is it that we have said or done to prevent such a crisis that has escalated? This is a multi-million dollar question.”
He further said, “As far as bringing back the citizens are concerned particularly the students, who are stuck there, we are fully in support of government. We must come up with a clear proposal. We have evacuated people from different parts of the world like Kuwait,” he added.
“We have evacuated people from different parts of the world when the incidents like this have happened. We were familiar with the landscape in the middle east, in Kabul, in Afghanistan. So all I can say is that they put their best talent together and find a solution,” said the Congress leader.
On the requirement of calling an all-party meeting to deal with the crisis, Khurshid said, “Off course, they should but have you seen government doing anything of this nature. There are people who know a little bit about international relations. Government cannot claim a monopoly on their understanding of international relations.”
“There are people who have been running international relations for much longer. They should speak to them they should speak with other political parties and get the backing of everybody. Let the country have one single voice rather than speculate and say things like I am saying because we don’t know enough,” he stated.
On US president stating that whatever happens in Ukraine and beyond, Russia itself will be responsible for that, the former Union Minister said, “So we need to take a call do we not? Or we just sit back and say we are not involved. Our kids are there, people are there, children are there. This is a new world order emerging and we claim to be walking tall in the new world order. We must tell where we stand.”
Responding to a question on India’s stand on Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of the country, Khurshid said, “Do they clarify anything ever, except give you half-truths, that is all they do. Now unfortunately that’s what they do, they won’t suddenly change. But this is a crisis that requires them to be transparent and a little cooperative with the opposition. This is the situation where the country should be on the same side and same page. But, I don’t know, I don’t have any expectations from the government.”
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