New Delhi (NVI): 58 Indian pilgrims were airlifted today from Iran, one of the worst affected nations in the world by coronavirus outbreak, as the Government started with the evacuation process of citizens stuck in the country.
As soon as the special Indian Air Force aircraft- C-17 Globemaster landed at Hindon airbase in the morning, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar tweeted, “The IAF aircraft has landed. Mission completed. On to the next”.
The latest batch of Indians evacuated from Iran include included 25 men, 31 women and 2 children. The aircraft also carried 529 samples for investigation, as per media reports. All Indians were lifted from Tehran and the special IAF aircraft left for the Iranian capital from Hindon airbase in the morning.
Jaishankar was closely monitoring the latest airlift process as he lauded the efforts by the Indian embassy in Iran and the Indian medical team for “operating under challenging conditions”. He also thanked the Indian Air Force and appreciated cooperation by Iranian authorities.
“Thanks to the efforts of our Embassy @India_in_Iran and Indian medical team there, operating under challenging conditions. Thank you @IAF_MCC. Appreciate cooperation of Iranian authorities. We are working on the return of other Indians stranded there,” he tweeted earlier today.
The minister also shared pics of evacuated Indians in another tweet.
First batch of 58 Indian pilgrims being brought back from #Iran. IAF C-17 taken off from Tehran and expected to land soon in Hindon. pic.twitter.com/IqZ8NUK1M6
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 10, 2020
Yesterday, the External Affairs minister had visited Kashmir and met families of students stuck in Iran.
The evacuation this morning is the second in two weeks by C-17 Globemaster, the largest military aircraft in the IAF inventory.
On February 27, 76 Indians and 36 foreign nationals were brought back from the Chinese city of Wuhan, epicentre of coronavirus outbreak, by the IAF aircraft.
