Srinagar/New Delhi: Hours after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met families of students from Jammu and Kashmir who are stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran, the government is set to send a military aircraft to Tehran Monday night to bring back the students and other Indians stuck there, officials said.
The C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) is scheduled to take off from the Hindon Airbase near Delhi at around 8 pm.
Government sources told The Print that the aircraft is scheduled to return Tuesday and land at the Palam airport in Delhi.
The sources said a medical team will be on board the aircraft along with the air crew.
Once they land, all those on board the flight will first go through medical checks and then shifted to the quarantine facility set up by the Army in Manesar, near Delhi.
This is the second such evacuation being carried out by the IAF since the coronavirus outbreak in China. On 20 February, a C-17 aircraft was sent to China with medical supplies, and it brought back 76 Indians and seven foreign nationals.
On 1 February, a special Air India plane brought 324 Indian nationals from coronavirus-hit Wuhan in China. On 2 February, a second Air India aircraft brought back 323 more Indians from China.
This would be the first time when an American-built aircraft of the Indian Air Force will be landing in Iran, a country which is in the midst of increasing acrimony with the US.
Iran is fighting a deadly outbreak of the novel coronavirus that has claimed 237 lives so far, according to official figures.
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Jaishanker’s assurance
The interaction between Jaishankar and the families was arranged by the J&K administration at the Kashmir International Conference Centre in Srinagar.
The visit comes days after the J&K High Court, while hearing a petition filed by a Budgam resident, sought the central government’s response on evacuation of students from coronavirus-hit Iran.
According to officials, there are currently over 300 students stuck in different provinces of Iran, including Shiraz, Isfahan and capital Tehran.
After meeting the worried parents, the minister tweeted, “Met in #Srinagar the families of Indian students in #Iran. Assured them that our Embassy @India_in_Iran is monitoring their welfare. We are committed to facilitating their early return to India.”
Met in #Srinagar the families of Indian students in #Iran. Assured them that our Embassy @India_in_Iran is monitoring their welfare. We are committed to facilitating their early return to India. pic.twitter.com/etNFc1pAsc
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 9, 2020
The Union minister also visited the Srinagar Passport Office located on the banks of the Dal Lake in Boulevard area and later “e-inaugurated” a development project in Baramulla.
“Interacted with the local community in #Baramulla. E-inaugurated a number of projects. Heard from a broad cross-section about their strong expectations of change and developmental progress. Confident that their faith in a better future will be realised,” Jaishankar tweeted.
Interacted with the local community in #Baramulla. E-inaugurated a number of projects. Heard from a broad cross-section about their strong expectations of change and developmental progress. Confident that their faith in a better future will be realised. pic.twitter.com/Dak6oPKuEn
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 9, 2020
‘We want to come back home’
The meeting between Jaishankar and the family members of students stuck in Iran came on a day the Union Territory of J&K recorded its first case of coronavirus
A 63-year-old woman, who had recently travelled to Iran, tested positive for COVID-19, officials said Monday. The patient is undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College in Jammu.
Earlier, two positive cases were reported in Ladakh. Both patients had a history of travel to Iran that has reported more than 7,000 confirmed cases until Monday. The condition of the two patients in Ladakh is stated to be stable
Bashir Ahmed from Magam, who was among the parents who met the Union minister Monday, told ThePrint, “The minister did give us assurance that our children will be brought back.”
Ahmed’s 18-year-old son is currently studying in Shiraz University where he stays in a dormitory with other Kashmiri students. “Our only concern is the evacuation of our children. We are not able to sleep at night. Our children are scared, frustrated… they cry whenever they call us,” Ahmed said.
ThePrint also spoke to Mohammad Saaif, a 22-year-old medical student studying in Tehran, who has spent the last 18 days in self-quarantine at his university dormitory.
“We are comfortable here. Breakfast and lunch are provided by the university, while we have to cook dinner for ourselves. But it has been 18 days and the uncertainty has all of us worried. Our parents back home are concerned,” Saaif said from Tehran.
He said they were not aware about the evacuation plan yet, but authorities have told them they would have to spend two weeks in quarantine in New Delhi.
Almost half of the over 300 students in Iran are in Tehran, while another 70-80 students are in Shiraz, several parents told ThePrint.
“We want to come back home. That’s all,” said Saaif.
J&K officials said all necessary precautions have to be taken before the evacuation of the students and hundreds of pilgrims who have been visiting Iran.
A medical team is already in Iran to take samples of the Indians, which will be brought back to be tested, an official said.
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