NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a high level meet on Ukraine crisis. The meet is called as part of intense efforts to fly home the stranded Indian students to their hometowns.

A decision has been taken to send four union ministers to Ukraine’s neighbouring countries to coordinate the evacuation of the students. Ministers Hardeep Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and V K Singh will travel to the countries surrounding Ukraine as special envoys of India to help with the evacuation.

The visuals of hundreds of Indian nationals stranded on the Ukrainian border have been reported in the media. An estimated of 16,000 students are stranded in various parts of Ukraine. There were criticisms for lack of speed in the rescue operation from many quarters. With this, the Prime Minister called a high level meeting and decided to send four ministers directly to Ukraine.

The ministers will travel to Romania, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. Meantime, those stranded in various parts of Ukraine are trying to reach the border. There were also reports that Ukrainian forces were blocking several groups of people coming to the borders walking miles.

The Indian embassy in Ukraine said on Twitter on Saturday that Indian citizens should not move to any border posts without contacting the government officials using helpline numbers. The embassy said it was difficult to help those arriving at border checkpoints without informing them.