As the Ukraine crisis lingers on, with Russia showing little sign of retreating from its military misadventures against its neighbour, Nepal has made its stance clear, condemning one nation's atrocities against another sovereign nation. The Nepal government was quick to call for restraint from all sides immediately after Russia invaded Ukraine. Nepal was one of the 29 nations that voted in favour of Ukraine's call at the UN Human Rights Council for an urgent debate on the Ukraine crisis and to condemn Russia's military overtures. Nepal was also one of the 141 members who voted in favour of the UN resolution to deplore the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Nepal's prompt response and unequivocal position against a powerful, friendly nation's unjustified action against a relatively weaker nation deserves commendation.

However, the same alacrity Nepal has exhibited in making public statements on the crisis is absent when it comes to making arrangements for rescuing and rehabilitating Nepali citizens from Ukraine. Mobile images of Nepalis fleeing the war torn country or pleading for help have been doing the rounds for more than a week now, and there is no reiterating the fact that our compatriots are in danger of losing their lives and livelihoods as Russia continues to rain missiles on residential areas. Over 800,000 people have already left Ukraine, and 227 civilians have been killed and 525 injured since the attacks began on February 24. It is a full-blown humanitarian crisis, and Nepal cannot depend on Ukraine to take care of the Nepalis living there in these difficult times. We are already pretty late in initiating an evacuation operation.

The government is learnt to have reached out to the Indian government through the embassy in Delhi, seeking the southern neighbour's help in evacuating Nepalis stranded in Ukraine. As per reports, the Indian government has responded positively to Nepal's request and is expected to evacuate Nepalis who have been taking refuge in Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland. India's gestures towards Nepalis in helping them return home, be it from Afghanistan in August last year or Ukraine now, strengthens the long-standing friendly relationship between the two South Asian nations. Nepal, meanwhile, continues to remain firm in its wait-and-watch position as it has little confidence in its capabilities than to seek the help of others even when its citizens are stranded in conflict zones.

It is during times of crises that citizens feel the need to return to the safety of their homes. India's action to evacuate its citizens stranded due to the Ukraine crisis has been welcomed at home, although it faced criticism for a delayed evacuation operation. As of now, India has evacuated more than 6,000 citizens, and has reported that it has evacuated all its citizens from the capital Kyiv. What's more, it has opened an embassy in Lviv, which will allow it to evacuate more of its citizens from Ukraine into neighbouring Eastern European countries.

While being grateful to India for its support to Nepal in the Ukraine crisis, it is also time to consider how the South Asian giant has disappointed the democratic world by abstaining from voting in favour of Ukraine. Sharing borders with a multitude of South Asian and Southeast Asian nations, India is at a confluence, even clash, of civilisations. Its own relationship with two of its neighbours, China and Pakistan, remains pretty strained. For a country that seeks the help of other nations when it is itself in crisis, it is disappointing that it cannot make an independent stand when a powerful nation is bullying a weaker one.