60,000 foreign nationals evacuated from India in view of COVID-19: MEA

About 60,000 foreign nationals from 72 countries have been evacuated from India in the midst of the coronavirus lockdown, the external affairs ministry said on Thursday. Anurag Srivastava, the spokesperson in the ministry, said the issue of evacuation of Indians stranded abroad is also under discussion and that all the Indian missions are extending all possible assistance to the diaspora.

"The matter is receiving the attention of the government. It would be premature for me to spell out the plans for their return at this stage," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava told an online media briefing. "But what I can tell you is that this is something which is under consultations. Discussions are underway. Simultaneously, our missions have been making exceptional efforts to address the situation," he added. It is learnt that the government is working on a mega plan to deploy a raft of naval ships as well as military and commercial aircraft to evacuate thousands of Indians stranded in the Gulf and other regions after the nationwide lockdown ends.

Srivastava said India has been in touch with its friends and partners across the world as part of its collaborative approach to dealing with the pandemic. As part of the government's outreach, he said secretaries in the Ministry of External Affairs held a series of meetings through video-conference with groups of ambassadors of foreign missions and they were briefed about prevailing COVID-19 situation as well as measures taken to mitigate its negative impact on the vulnerable sections of the society and on the economy at large. He said the envoys expressed their deep appreciation for the manner in which the fight against the pandemic was being handled in India. The MEA spokesperson said about 60,000 foreign nationals from 72 countries have been evacuated. Meanwhile, the UK announced that it will operate additional flights to evacuate over 2,000 people from India. "Our charter programme has already helped more than 10,000 British travellers return home from India by ensuring flights to the UK have run every day since 8 April...These additional flights will help over 2,000 more people get back to their loved ones here in the UK," said Tariq Ahmad, UK's minister of state for South Asia and the Commonwealth.

On China's criticism of the decision by the Indian Council of Medical Research to stop use of COVID-19 rapid testing kits supplied by two Chinese companies, the MEA spokesperson said the matter is being handled by the premier medical body. The ICMR on Monday asked the states and union territories to stop using the test kits procured from Chinese companies Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech and Zhuhai Livzon Diagnostics due to "wide variations" in their performance. Srivastava said India has provided 2.8 million hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) tablets and 1.9 million paracetamol tablets to various countries as part of its assistance. "We have already provided 2.8 million HCQ tablets as grant assistance to 25 countries. We have also provided paracetamol, about 1.9 million tablets as well as in another form to 31 countries. In addition, consignments of HCQ and of paracetamol are being sent to 87 countries on a commercial basis," he said. HCQ has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for COVID-19.