Coronavirus scare: Foreign minister Jaishankar meets parents of students stranded in Iran

The parents of the students have made appeals to the government to bring them back as Iran battles the coronavirus scare.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Srinagar and interacted with families of students whose children are stranded in Iran amid coronavirus scare, news agency PTI reported.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar speaks at an event in New Delhi, on March 7. (PTI Photo)

The parents have been appealing the government to bring the students back from Iran.

The foreign minister had earlier said that the screening process of Indian nationals stranded in Iran has started and follow up arrangements are being discussed with Iranian authorities to bring them back.

“Efforts underway for return of Indian pilgrims in Qom #Iran. Screening process has started & follow up arrangements are being discussed with Iranian authorities. This is a top priority & Embassy team @india_in_iran is fully engaged on this,” Jaishankar had said on Twitter replying to NCP chief Sharad Pawar tweet.

Iran is among the countries worst-hit by coronavirus outbreak.

A special flight from Iran had arrived at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport early on Saturday morning with swab samples of 110 Indians. The samples were sent to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to check if the people are infected with the virus.

New Delhi has sent a team of doctors to Iran for screening and has established a clinic at Qom, where 40 Indian nationals are stranded.

Iranian Embassy has also assured that Indian citizens with no symptoms of the virus will be transferred to India and those whose medical test results are positive will be hospitalised in one of the advanced special medical centres designated by Iran’s Ministry of Health.

The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases globally has surpassed 101,000, with more than 3,400 deaths and 55,800 recoveries.