Indian diplomats working round the clock to combat coronavirus pandemic, none of them infected yet: MEA

Amid the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak, central government sources have said that no Indian diplomat, especially in the worst-impacted countries like China, Iran and Italy, have been infected with the disease. Indian diplomats in all the three countries have played an important role in the evacuation of the Indian nationals stranded there.

At a special press conference organised by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on the crisis on Thursday, spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, "Indian missions across the world, and wherever you have the pandemic widespread, we are working under tremendous local challenges because the ecosystem is not under your control. You have restrictions in terms of the medical facilities." 

Explaining, "People right in the front they are trying best to be able to help, in terms of providing accommodation, in terms of arranging food in the lockdown situation. So there are challenges. Mission officials who are right at the forefront, they are operating under complex environment, they have to follow local advisories"

The Indian mission in China help evacuated 723 Indian nationals and 45 foreign nationals from Wuhan, which was once the epicentre of the crisis. India had led three evacuations from Wuhan in the month of February alone. In Iran, the Indian mission while not only evacuated but also helped in establishing a quarantine facility in the Qom city, the center of the crisis in the west Asian country. More than 250 Indians had been infected with the virus in the country and one Indian died due to the disease. Many Indian nationals have also been evacuated from Italy, and an Air India flight will be sent to Rome this weekend to bring back more Indians.