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Relief flight to coronavirus-hit Wuhan delayed amid India’s ban on mask export
It is not clear what has caused the delay but in the same statement the Chinese foreign ministry sent to HT on Monday, it responded to a query on India’s ban on medical imports to China.
China on Monday said “competent authorities” from the two countries were in contact over the planned arrival of the IAF relief and evacuation aircraft in coronavirus-hit Wuhan city, days after India said Beijing was deliberately delaying it.
The statement from the Chinese foreign ministry comes in the backdrop of the back and forth between New Delhi and Beijing over delay in the IAF aircraft getting the required clearance to land in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
After bringing in medical supplies to aid China, on its way back, the transport aircraft is scheduled to evacuate some 100 Indians who continue to be stranded in the city, locked down for more than a month now.
“Competent authorities of the two countries have been in communication and coordination on this matter,” the Chinese foreign ministry told HT in a written statement.
On Friday, spokesperson Geng Shuang had said: “There is no such a thing as China delaying giving flight permissions”.
There apparently is, according to external affairs ministry officials in New Delhi who said over the weekend that Beijing was simply not moving on the request.
The Indian embassy in Beijing told the anxious Indians in Wuhan over the weekend that it was waiting for Beijing to clear the flight, asking them to ready to be transported to the Wuhan airport and fly at short notice.
India submitted details of the IAF’s Boeing-made C17 aircraft to the Chinese foreign ministry more than a week ago.
It is not clear what has caused the delay but in the same statement the Chinese foreign ministry sent to HT on Monday, it responded to a query on India’s ban on medical imports to China.
On the “Prohibition on the export of medical materials, China has taken note of the above ban issued by relevant departments of India,” the statement said.
“I want to point out that the Indian side has on many occasions publicly expressed its support to the Chinese government and people in their all-out efforts to combat the outbreak of the new coronavirus pneumonia. China appreciates this,” the statement added.
“We hope that the Indian side will, in the spirit of humanitarianism, release as soon as possible the medical and protective materials purchased by China before the ban and take concrete actions to support the Chinese people in fighting the epidemic,” the statement added.
A leading Beijing-based south Asian expert thought that the ban on anti-epidemic material could be the reason behind the delay in clearing the aircraft.
The ban on exporting protective clothing could be the main reason despite the China-specific waiver that New Delhi implemented a week after the ban on January 31.
What could have irked the Chinese authorities is that the initial ban on protective clothing especially masks was implemented abruptly and delayed orders, especially for masks, by Chinese companies placed in January.
As a result of the ban, a large volume of masks meant for China got stuck at New Delhi airport for days – a crucial week was lost.
Even after the ban was partially lifted on February 8, the perception in China is that it still prohibited the export of high-standard and critical anti-epidemic material like N95 / N90 masks and European standard FFP1 / FFP2 / FFP3 masks and protective clothing to China.
The perception seems to be this: India didn’t reach out to China at a time of a major crisis while Beijing helped in the evacuation of 647 of its citizens in the days after the mask ban was put in place.
Other reasons could have irked China as well: The perception that India closely followed the United States to take the lead in evacuation and embargoes on Chinese cities, banning e-visas for Chinese, the visit of home minister Amit Shah to Arunachal Pradesh and the seizure of the Chinese ship “Da Cuiyun”.
