Dr. Noel Khokhar, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Ukraine, said on Thursday that 1,435 Pakistanis have been rescued from Ukraine’s war-torn country.
The Pakistani envoy said in an audio message that 1,435 Pakistani people had been able to leave Ukraine, while another 20 were still near the border.
He said that just 40 Pakistanis were stuck in war-torn regions and were being evacuated as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in a statement that Pakistan has requested assistance from Romania and Hungary for the evacuation of Pakistani students. He said that the Romanian and Hungarian foreign ministers have agreed to cooperate.
He said that the Pakistani embassy in Ukraine was assisting with student evacuations.
“They are children in suffering as a consequence of the conflict,” the foreign minister said. “We did all we could to assist them on humanitarian grounds.”
Mahmood Qureshi told EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borell that Pakistan has always stressed de-escalation, new talks, and diplomacy in the crisis between Russia and Ukraine.
For FM the critical nature of a solution that is consistent with applicable multilateral agreements, international law, and UN Charter values was emphasised.
Shahid Qureshi said that the government has always been in favour of peaceful solutions to problems through dialogue and diplomacy.
The Foreign Minister reaffirmed that Prime Minister Imran Khan lamented the current situation between Russia and Ukraine and shared Pakistan’s aim of averting armed war via diplomacy.