Ukraine’s ground situation is a setback, not India’s abstinence from UN vote: FM

The Centre is in talks with all the countries including Russia and Ukraine to evacuate Indian students from the war zone, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in an interview. It is appealing to the nations to help Indian nationals on humanitarian grounds, she said, but pointed out that there are challenges.

While the Russia-Ukraine crisis is bound to hurt the Indian economy, the magnitude cannot be estimated now, said Sitharaman. The Centre is helping MSMEs address the threats and export opportunities presented by the war, she noted. Edited excerpts:

Indian students are still stuck in Ukraine. What steps is the Indian government taking to rescue them?

The situation is very sad. The External Affairs Minister (S Jaishankar) is personally monitoring the situation. The Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) has held talks with us at least four times. Our final decision is to rescue everyone. But the question is how and when they can be rescued safely — (after all) Ukraine is a big country. In the country’s western region, the war has not intensified. So, arrangements are being made to evacuate them through that route.

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But there’s a curfew in place across the country. So, when and how the students should be shifted remains the question. Everything should be planned in detail. They will not have visas to enter the neighbouring countries, so temporary arrangements should be made before taking them to the airports in those countries. Our officials are being deployed at the border to facilitate this.

The evacuation process is being carried out without much hassle in the western districts. We are taking care of the entire expense. The war is taking place intensely in the eastern part. So, for students stuck there, travelling 1,000 km to the western districts is difficult. The Indian Embassy there has asked them to wait.

We are in talks with all the countries including Russia and Ukraine. We have been asking them to send Indian nationals back on a humanitarian basis, and they are willing to comply. But they require time to accommodate our request. We have been making continuous efforts and we accept that there is a delay in evacuating students from the eastern districts.

Students, who were rather strong until recently, have started panicking over the past couple of days. They don’t have rations. Is it possible to help them?

There is no way to reach rations to them. The Embassy does have diplomatic immunity, but it is still risky for its officials to travel on the road when a war is going on. We are exploring the opportunities to see what we can do. There are videos of our students being harassed near the Poland-Ukraine border. It is done by individuals.

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We are talking with the Ukrainian government and the countries bordering it. They are cooperative — four countries have agreed to allow students into their region without visas, including Poland and Hungary.

India abstained from a procedural vote in the Security Council for holding an emergency UN General Assembly (UNGA) session, and for convening an urgent debate at UNHRC. Is it a setback for us in terms of rescue operations?

That is not a setback; the ground situation in Ukraine is a setback. No matter how cooperative the countries are, it is a big challenge for us to go and rescue students when a war is going on.

Also read: Modi asks IAF to airlift stranded Indians; leave Kyiv ‘urgently,’ says embassy

The economy is just recovering after the pandemic. Could the war pose a threat to our growth?

The war is a challenge for our economy and it will have an impact on us. For example, we don’t know what will happen to the gas supplied from Russia to Europe, or about oil and gas prices, or whether the supply will be interrupted. If the overall supply is affected, then it will have an impact on India as well.  For instance, 80 per cent of our edible oil needs comes from there. So, the war will have an impact for the next six to seven months.

Brent crude has crossed $100 a barrel. Will fuel prices increase again?

I cannot answer that now, since we don’t know for how long the price will be the same and when the supply will improve. The price changes are made by oil marketing companies (OMCs). If a situation arises where the companies cannot bear the increased cost, the government can reduce the tax.

The tax on fuel was reduced during Diwali. Can a similar thing be done now?

We have to talk with the OMCs before making a decision on that. Even if the Centre reduces the tax, how far can we go? Even if we waive the tax, State governments can levy them. We don’t know what will be their stand. We have to think of all the aspects before making a decision.

Also read: Explained: Why Indians flock to Ukraine to study medicine

The US’ inflation has increased by 20 per cent — something unseen over the past 40 years. How are we going to face inflation?

If we take the period between 2020 and now, the inflation graph has been going up and down. It crossed 6 per cent just seven or eight times. And, every time, we took steps to reduce it, either by importing more or increasing production. We are taking continuous efforts to keep inflation down, and that’s why it is not crossing 6 per cent. Even if the numbers are indicative, at the ground level, people cannot accept an increase in the price of certain products.

Will MSME growth be affected? Are there challenges to imports and exports?

Analysts think we have an opportunity to increase the export of wheat because of the war. We can reach out to regions where wheat was being supplied by Ukraine. We have already taken efforts to create awareness among exporters and to meet the supply constraints in the global markets. The challenge is — what if exporters say they don’t have the payment for their supply? Till now we haven’t received any such complaint but we have been pondering on such possibilities.

Pharmaceutical exports will be affected because drugs are being exported from India to Russia and Ukraine. Now those exporters are wondering if they should look for alternative markets. We are supporting them in this regard.