New Delhi: In one of the biggest pre-poll interviews of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with news agency ANI on Monday, the former spoke about safely evacuating stranded Indian students back from Yemen as well as Ukraine. 

He said, “You should see how we had safely evacuated Indians from Yemen. I spoke to Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Sushma Swaraj ji had detailed everything about this mission in one of her interviews. There was a time frame when there would be no bombarding in Yemen. It was exactly then when we had evacuated around 5000 Indians.”

PM Modi said, “I have been very friendly with both the Presidents (of Russia and Ukraine). I can publicly tell Russian President Vladimir Putin that this is not the time for war. I can also tell Ukraine publicly that we should follow the path of dialogue because I have credibility.”

He added, “When I said (to Ukraine's President and Russian PM) that our youth was trapped and I need your help, I was told, what can I do for you? Then I said, I have arranged so much. You help me so much. They helped.”

PM Modi said it was the strength of the Indian flag, which became his guarantee when several Indians, including youngsters, were trapped in Ukraine at the time of the Ukraine-Russia war.

He stated, "I've shared a very close rapport with Ukraine and Russia. I sought help from them and they agreed. Such was the strength of our Indian flag that even foreigners carried our tricolour during the evacuation; there was a place for him. My tricolour became my 'guarantee.'"