New Delhi: Concerned that the corridor to evacuate Indian students from Sumy did not materialise amidst the blame game between Russia and Ukraine, India said in the United Nations Security Council on Monday, March 7, that humanitarian actions should “not be politicised”.Earlier in the day, hopes had been raised that India would be able to evacuate more than 700 nationals stranded in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy after Russia announced humanitarian corridors from four cities.However, the ceasefire required to operate the corridor never took hold. The operation to evacuate over 700 Indian medical students had to be abandoned at the last minute, even after at least two buses were packed.Russia has blamed Ukraine for deliberately not allowing foreign nationals to leave the besieged cities. Ukraine countered that Russia was keeping foreign students as “hostages”.Speaking at the UNSC meeting, India’s permanent representative to the UN, T.S. Tirumurti, reminded that New Delhi had urged safe and uninterrupted passage for all civilians, including all Indian nationals remaining in Ukraine. “We are deeply concerned that despite our repeated urgings to both sides, the safe corridor for our students stranded in Sumy did not materialise,” he said.Alluding to the blame game over the corridor, Tirumurti underlined that it was important that “humanitarian action is always guided by the principles of humanitarian assistance, i.e., humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence”. “These should not be politicised,” he asserted. Tirumurti reminded that, as per UN estimates, more than 140 civilians were killed in the war, including an Indian student. “India mourns his death and we convey our deepest condolences to his family, just as we mourn the loss of each and every civilian life in the conflict,” he said.India had previously stated that 21-year-old S.G. Naveen had died in shelling at Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.The Russian envoy to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, implied that Ukrainian forces had been behind the death.Invited to make a statement, the Ukrainian representative accused Russia of undermining agreements for humanitarian corridors and “hypocrisy” in pushing displaced Ukrainian citizens towards Belarusian and Russian territory.India expressed hope that the international community would respond positively to the Flash Appeal and the Regional Refugee Response Plan by the UN Secretary-General on Ukraine.Tirumurti also added that India had sent seven tranches of humanitarian supplies to Ukraine and neighbouring countries, which were receiving a stream of refugees. “These include medicines, medical equipment, tents, tarpaulin, protective eye gear, water storage tanks, solar lamps, sleeping mats and blankets amongst other relief material. We are in the process of identifying other such requirements and sending more supplies”.
