New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting to review India's security preparedness, and the prevailing global scenario in the context of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, sources have said. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar were among those attending the meeting. NSA Ajit Doval, the three chiefs of Army, Navy and the Air Force and senior government officials were present at the meeting.
PM Modi was briefed on the latest developments in Ukraine, including the details of Operation Ganga to evacuate Indian nationals, along with some citizens of India's neighbouring countries, from Ukraine, the government said in a statement. The briefing also encompassed the latest developments and different aspects of India's security preparedness in the border areas as well as in the maritime and air domain
PM Modi directed that all possible efforts should be made to bring back the body of Naveen Shekharappa, who died in Kharkiv.
The Prime Minister reiterated that every effort must be made to make India self-reliant in the defence sector, so that it not only strengthens our security but also enhances economic growth, sources said.
On Thursday, addressing BJP workers after the party's big win in the latest round of state elections, PM Modi said India's needs are connected to both Russia and Ukraine, but the country is on the side of peace and hopes that all problems get resolved through dialogue.
"India has a connection with the countries involved in the war - economically, security wise, education wise and politically as well. India's several needs are connected to these countries," PM Modi said.
The ongoing war is affecting every country across the world. India is on peace's side and hopes that all problems are resolved with deliberations," he added.
The government has evacuated the 1800-plus Indian nationals from Ukraine. The evacuation programme "Operation Ganga" ended earlier this week.
PM Modi had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky before the evacuation, which had a big role in bringing it about after two ceasefire attempts failed.
India also engaged with the Red Cross, both in Geneva and Ukraine, for help with evacuating the students, reported news agency ANI.