News Brief
Special IAF Flight Delivers 15 Tonne Medical Supplies To China; Evacuates 112 Indians, Foreign Nationals
A C-17 Globemaster III during induction at Hindon Airbase in Ghaziabad. (Representative Image) (Photo by Virendra Singh Gosain/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
An Indian Air Force special aircraft on Wednesday (26 February) carried 15 tonnes of medical supplies from India to coronavirus hit Wuhan and returned with 112 Indians and other foreign nationals stranded in the country, reports Indian Express.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the consignment of relief material is a strong expression of India's solidarity with the Chinese people in their "difficult time."
In a tweet he said, “ On its return from Wuhan, the IAF flight has brought back 76 Indians & 36 nationals from 7 countries.”
The C-17 Globemaster military aircraft was carrying much needed medical equipment like masks, gloves and other emergency supplies by India.
After the medical supply was offloaded, the special IAF flight brought back 112 Indians and foreign nationals to Delhi of which 76 are Indian citizens and the other 23 nationals are from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Maldives South Africa, USA and Madagascar.
This list of foreign nationals also include 6 Chinese who are spouses and family members of the Indians.
This information was given by the Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri.
The stranded passengers will be kept in mandatory 14-day quarantine in India like their previous batches. This will ensure they are safe to move and are cleared of the COVID-19 virus.
On February 1 and 2, India operated two special Air India flights that brought back 647 Indian nationals, mostly students, and seven Maldivian nationals.
Abdulla Shahid, foreign minister of Maldives tweeted, “ Two remaining Maldivians in #Wuhan have been evacuated by IAF flight and will be housed in Delhi for quarantine. “
These Indians and other foreign nationals could have been brought back early but there was a delay by China.
Earlier, as claimed by the officials, China was causing a delay in issuing the clearance to the C-17 military aircraft, scheduled to fly to Wuhan on 20 February. However, the neighbouring nation had let other countries’ flights to operate and safely evacuate their citizens.
Of yesterday, the official death toll from coronavirus in China has reached 2,715 and the number of confirmed cases jumped to 78,064.
A press release by the Ministry of External Affairs said, "This assistance has been provided in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak in China and the request by China to provide supplies such as masks and medical equipment."
Indian Prime Minister in a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping on 8 February had expressed solidarity with the people of China and also offered assistance in this "hour of need as a gift".
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