AKIPRESS.COM - India is focusing on evacuating its 16,000 nationals, majority of them students, still stuck in Ukraine, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said late on Thursday, after Russian forces entered into the former Soviet republic, Reuters reported.

Teams of Indian foreign ministry officials have been sent to Ukraine's land borders with Hungary, Poland, Slovak Republic and Romania to provide assistance to any fleeing Indian nationals, Shringla told a press briefing.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged an end to violence in Ukraine during a telephonic conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, an Indian government statement said on Thursday.

"Prime Minister Modi appealed for an immediate cessation of violence, and called for concerted efforts from all sides to return to the path of diplomatic negotiations and dialogue," the statement said.

During the conversation, Modi also raised the issue of the safety of Indian citizens in Ukraine, especially students, the statement added. "The prime minister has conveyed ... that the topmost priority of the government is the safety and security of Indian nationals, including Indian students, and their evacuation from Ukraine," Shringla said.

Around 4,000 Indians have already been evacuated since the government set up repatriation efforts a month ago, he added.

Indian government advisories call on Indians to find shelter or if possible to attempt to leave the country by land, Shringla said, after Ukraine shut its airspace.

India continued to send evacuation flights to Romania and Hungary to bring back stranded Indians from Ukrainian capital city Kyiv. Air India has operated four flights from Bucharest and Budapest on Saturday and Sunday to evacuate Indian students to New Delhi.

India’s Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia greeted the evacuees at the Delhi airport. Scindia said, "I know you all have been through a very, very difficult and trying time. But know this that the PM and the Indian government are with you." He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in touch with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and talks are being held so that everyone is brought home safely.

The minister said talks are also on with the Russian government and the Indian government will breathe easy only after each and every stranded Indian is evacuated from Ukraine.