The government on Wednesday said that it is in the process of evacuating 1,400 Indian nationals, mostly residents of Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir, from the coronavirus-hit Iran where around 300 people have died due to the outbreak.
In a statement tabled before the Rajya Sabha, Minister ofExternal Affairs S. Jaishankar said of the 6000 Indian nationals living inIran, 1,100 were pilgrims mainly from Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir andMaharashtra and 300 were students mostly from J&K and 1,000 were fishermenfrom Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.
Around 9,000 people have been infected with the novelcoronavirus across Iran. Due to the spike in coronavirus cases in Iran, as aprecautionary measure, New Delhi temporarily suspended direct flights betweenIndia and Iran from February 27. Advisories were issued to avoid travel andreturning passengers have been screened.
The minister said the Indian embassy in Tehran andconsulates in Bandar Abbas and Zahidan reached out immediately to Indiannationals in Iran to ascertain their welfare and are in constant touch withthem.
“The initial focus is on visiting pilgrims. Many ofthem are in Qom, where coronavirus incidence has been strong. Their age and thenature of their residency increases the risks of exposure. As their welfare isbeing currently addressed, we are now focusing on Indian students,”Jaishankar told the House. Many of the students, he said, are studyingmedicine.
The southern provinces of Iran, including cities ofAsaalouyeh, Chiruyeh and Kish where most fishermen are located, the ministersaid, have not been affected so severely. “These factors will guide ourapproach in the coming days,” he said.
Given the scale of COVID -19 infection and its pressure onIran’s resources, a team of six Indian health officials has been deputed toIran in order to set up testing and sampling facilities there.
The first batch of 108 samples received in India on March 7were tested. Fifty-eight Indian pilgrims (25 men, 31 women and 2 children), whotested negative, were repatriated in special IAF C-17 flight on March 10, theminister said.
The government has got samples of another 529 Indians fortesting at National Institute of Virology, Pune. “We continue to collectmore samples in Tehran and our endeavor is to ensure the earliest possiblereturn of our nationals after appropriate testing and screening. We are workingwith the Iranian authorities to operate some limited commercial flights forfacilitating early return of the remaining Indians after testing them,”Jaishankar said.