MEA: India may look into plea to rescue Pakistanis
India on Thursday said it may “look into” any requests to evacuate Pakistani nationals from Wuhan in China “if such a situation arises” and “keeping in mind the resources available”, but pointed out that the Pakistani government had not made any such request to India. Meanwhile, New Delhi also said that “people travelling to China (from India) henceforth will be quarantined on return.
In response to a question on whether India will consider a reported appeal made by Pakistani students for evacuation from Wuhan, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, “No such request has been received by us from the Government of Pakistan. But if such a situation arises and keeping in mind the resources available, we can look into it.”
The MEA also said apart from evacuation of 647 Indian nationals and 7 nationals of Maldives on two flights from Wuhan recently, 10 other Indian nationals who wanted to be evacuated then could not board the evacuation flights since they did not pass the health screening.
It may be recalled that as per reports, Pakistan has refused to evacuate its nationals from Wuhan on grounds of solidarity with China. If New Delhi indeed decides to examine the matter on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, it could end up severely embarrassing Pakistan before the world.
Meanwhile, the MEA spokesperson said, “The Government of India has issued regular advisories on this (coronavirus) issue. Indian nationals have been advised to refrain from travelling to China. People travelling to China henceforth will be quarantined on return. Separately, travel to India from China on e-visa has been temporarily suspended. This applies to the holders of Chinese passports and applicants of other nationalities residing in the mainland of People’s Republic of China. We have also clarified that holders of already issued e-visa are no longer valid. It is further clarified that existing normal visas are no longer valid. Those who have compelling reason to visit India may contact our embassy or our consulates. The visa section of our embassy/consulates may be contacted for any clarification.”