India-B’desh travel services suspended; 18 checkpoints shut

NEW DELHI: India on Friday announced the suspension of cross-border passenger bus and train services with Bangladesh until April 15 and the closure of 18 immigration checkposts with four neighbouring countries as part of measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Officials said the government was taking more steps to bring back from Iran and Italy Indians who had tested negative for the virus; plans include operating at least three flights to these countries over the weekend.

The travel of Indian pilgrims through the Kartarpur Corridor to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan will continue, although the matter is “still under consideration”, additional secretary Anil Malik of the home ministry told a news briefing.

Cross-border passenger bus and train services to Bangladesh will be suspended from March 15 to April 15 although freight train services will continue. Border markets along the Bangladeshi frontier in northeastern states will be suspended until further orders, Malik said.

The government will allow international passenger traffic only through 19 of the 37 land immigration checkposts, and the rest will be closed from midnight on Saturday, Malik said. This measure is aimed at facilitating the better screening of people entering India through checkposts. Among the 18 checkposts being closed is the Wagah-Attari crossing with Pakistan.

The 19 checkposts that will remain open are in Assam, Bihar, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal along the borders with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Myanmar. Visa-free entry for Nepalese and Bhutanese citizens will continue,although medical screening at checkposts will be of the same standards as at airports, Malik said. Checkposts along the frontiers with these four countries are aimed at facilitating cheap and easy travel by residents of border regions and people-to-people contacts.

Additional secretary Dammu Ravi, the external affairs ministry’s point person for all Covid-19related matters, said the government was making “strong efforts” to evacuate Indians from Iran and Italy, with the priority being the return of 220 students from Milan. So far, India has evacuated 1,031 people from Coronavirus-affected countries. Of them, 819 have been discharged after quarantine. Another 236 people evacuated from Japan and China will be discharged from Friday, officials said. While 58 Indian pilgrims were evacuated from Iran by an Indian Air Force aircraft on March 10, an Iran Air flight ferried 44 people to Mumbai on Friday, and they were quarantined in an Indian Navy facility.

A flight of Iran’s Mahan Air will bring back some Indians to Delhi on Saturday, and Air India is prepared to fly to Tehran to evacuate more Indians. An AI flight will go to Milan on Saturday and return the following day with some 220 Indians. A team of four doctors reached Rome on Friday to collect samples for the screening of Indians wishing to return, said officials.

AN AI FLIGHT WILL GO TO MILAN ON SATURDAY AND RETURN THE FOLLOWING DAY WITH SOME 220 INDIANS