Fact Check: Ukraine war put on hold for the evacuation of Indian students?

In the lead-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has launched an advertisement campaign titled “Modi ka Parivar,” highlighting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alleged pivotal role in halting the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The assertion is linked to the successful evacuation of more than 22,500 Indian students from the war zone. The campaign showcases PM Modi’s efforts to end the hostilities and facilitate the safe return of Indian nationals from the affected region. The influence of this narrative on the BJP’s electoral prospects remains to be observed.

The BJP’s campaign portrays PM Modi as a global peacemaker who allegedly intervened to halt the hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. The narrative is built around the successful evacuation mission, projecting it as a direct result of PM Modi’s diplomatic efforts. The ad aims to bolster the image of the Prime Minister as a leader with significant influence on the international stage.

In an interview with News18 Uttar Pradesh on Nov 14, 2022, Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated that Russia and Ukraine agreed on a 72-hour ceasefire to facilitate the evacuation of Indian students at the request of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He added that every Indian should feel honour in this, as it testifies to India's growing influence worldwide. He clarified that he has been monitoring India’s diplomatic ties with other countries for a long time, but said this incident is unprecedented.

Fact-check

In a special briefing on Operation Ganga on March 3, 2022, ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi categorically denied that Russia or Ukraine had stopped the bombing at the behest of India.

The Ministry of External Affairs denied the viral claim. We conducted an initial investigation and sought the Foreign Ministry's official statement. We discovered a DD News video report from 03 March 2022. In this video, the spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry refuted the reports claiming Russia had paused the war for six hours to permit Indians to evacuate from Kharkiv.

During a press conference, at 20:21 second of timestamp, Arindam Bagchi, a spokesperson for the MEA, stated, "We received specific inputs about an available route and conveyed that information to our citizens. I'm pleased many of them successfully escaped, though not under ideal circumstances due to incidents of violence, given the war-torn location.

"However, it would be completely misleading to claim that we are in any way coordinating bombings, or someone is bombing on our behalf. I couldn't be more emphatic–the bombings would recommence at our request".

In a report by the Economic Times on March 8, 2022, it was noted that Russia had announced plans to establish humanitarian corridors in Ukraine on a Tuesday, offering civilians a way out of besieged cities. However, Ukrainian authorities dismissed the initiative as a mere publicity stunt, asserting that escape was impossible. Moscow’s proposal for evacuation was declined as the suggested routes led into Russia or Belarus, its ally, while Russian forces persisted in their intense shelling campaign.

The Indian Embassy in Russia tweeted, “Russia has declared a ceasefire to facilitate a humanitarian operation from 12:30 IST on March 8, 2022, and is prepared to provide humanitarian corridors.”

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