E-Paper
Coronavirus in Iran: Kerala CM seeks evacuation of over 100 fishermen
Kerala CM Vijayan’s letter states that the state official had managed to contact some of the fishermen stranded at Azalur in Iran
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan has requested the center to take steps to evacuate over 100 fishermen allegedly trapped in Iran due to restrictions imposed in the wake of coronovirus spread in the country. Vijayan, in his letter to external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Sunday, said around 60 of the trapped fishermen were from Kerala.
Vijayan’s letter states that the state official had managed to contact some of the men stranded at ‘Azalur’.
“It has been stated by the person trapped in Azalur that more than a hundred persons are there out of which around 60 are reported to be from Kerala,” the letter says.
Vijayan’s letter follows a similar request to the government by Rajya Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu and DMDK leader Vaiko.
According to agency reports, Vaiko, while seeking the government’s intervention had claimed that about 900 fishermen were stranded in Iran.
Congress leader Saifuddin Soz has also requested the government for the evacuation of Kashmiri students from India and China
At least 54 people have perished to coronavirus in Iran, according to the gulf country’s health ministry.
The number of confirmed infected cases has also jumped by more than half to reach a figure of 978 people.
India had issued a travel advisory on February 26 to avoid non-essential travel to Iran due to the rising number of infections.
Kerala CM requests the foreign ministry to direct the Indian embassy in Iran to take “necessary” steps to “arrange” for the “safe return” of these men.
Indian envoy to Iran Gaddam Dharmendra had yesterday said that efforts were on to facilitate the return of willing Indians and discussions were underway with authorities in Tehran.
The Iranian government had yesterday asked India to take immediate steps to evacuate Indians from the Islamic country which has seen the highest number of casualties due to coronavirus outbreak outside China.
