Sonbhadra:, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Indian government has been able to evacuate its citizens from war-torn Ukraine because of its rising power in the world.

During the elections campaign in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra district, Prime Minister said that government would not spare any effort in bringing home Indians who were stranded in war hi Ukraine.

Prime Minister’s remarks came after the killing of fourth year medical student Naveen in Kharkiv city of Ukraine. Naveen hails from Chalagere village in Ranebennuru taluk of Haveri district.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at the opposition, especially the Congress, as he said, "Those who questioned the valour of armed forces and 'Make in India' can't make the country strong."

In the middle of aggressive campaigning for state elections, the Ukraine crisis and the plight of Indian students stranded there has spurred opposition attacks on the government.

PM Modi has held four meetings in three days over the evacuation of Indian citizens from Ukraine.

Meanwhile, India has expedited its effort of evacuating stranded Indians in Ukraine. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked the Indian Air Force (IAF) to evacuate Indians stranded in Ukraine due to the Russian military offensive against that country, sources said on Tuesday.

The IAF is likely to deploy several C-17 aircraft as part of Operation Ganga from Tuesday, they said.

Till now, only private Indian carriers were evacuating Indians from Romania and Hungary, countries with land borders with Ukraine on the western side, as the Ukrainian airspace had been shut since February 24. India began the evacuation of around 14,000 of its stranded citizens on February 26.

In order to scale up the ongoing evacuation efforts under Operational Ganga, PM Modi has called for the IAF to join the exercise, the sources said. Leveraging the capacities of the IAF will ensure that more people can be evacuated in a shorter time frame, they noted. The large C-17 aircraft will also help deliver humanitarian aid to war-hit Ukraine more efficiently, they mentioned.