‘A test for Indian diplomacy’: Chidambaram on second US aircraft arriving with deported Indians
A plane carrying 119 Indian deportees from the United States will land at the Amritsar airport tonight.
Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday said that the arrival of the second US aircraft carrying Indian deportees from the United States would be a “test” for Indian diplomacy.
“All eyes will be on the US aircraft which will land today in Amritsar bringing back illegal immigrants. Will the deportees be handcuffed and their legs tied with ropes?” Chidambaram wrote on X.
He further added: “It is a test for Indian diplomacy.”
A plane carrying 119 Indian deportees from the United States will land at the Amritsar airport on Saturday. The flight is expected to land at the airport between 10 pm to 11 pm.
Among the 119 deportees, 67 are from Punjab, 33 are from Haryana, eight from Gujarat, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Goa, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
The deportees scheduled to reach India include people who had entered the United States through Mexico and other routes. They also allegedly tore up their passports immediately after entering the US illegally, according to the officials.
The flights to Amritsar make the second tranche of people returning amid an unprecedented crackdown on people entering the US illegally by the Donald Trump administration.
First flight and handcuff controversy
Earlier, a US Air Force plane carrying Indian deportees arrived in Amritsar on February 5. A total of 104 Indian nationals were on board the plane that landed in Amritsar.
Many deportees claimed that their hands and legs were cuffed throughout the journey and they were unshackled only after landing in Amritsar.
This triggered nationwide outrage, with the opposition demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi to raise the issue with the US during his visit to Washington.
Also Read | Shackles, handcuffs made us feel like hardcore criminals: Indian deportee
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had alleged that the Indian migrants were treated “even worse than garbage”.
After a widespread outcry in India, New Delhi had conveyed its concerns to Washington about the treatment of deportees.
In Parliament, Chidambaram also criticised the ministry of external affairs, saying it "crumbled badly" in handling the deportation of Indian nationals from the United States, according to ANI.
He said that the government had information about the planned deportation of Indian nationals and asked if EAM S Jaishankar had raised the issue of sending Indians, identified as illegal immigrants by the US, under SoPs when he had met US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.
Chidambaram had also asked if the government had offered to send its own plane to bring back Indians and if the government would send planes to bring back 483 more Indians identified as illegal immigrants by the US.
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