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India’s relief flight to China yet to take off, Beijing denies delaying it
The flight was originally scheduled to fly out on Thursday and the Indian foreign affairs ministry cited the absence of approval from the Chinese authorities for it not taking off.
China says it did not “delay” clearance to Indian Air Force’s (IAF) flight with relief material that was to also evacuate remaining Indians from the coronavirus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan on its return.
The flight was originally scheduled to fly out on Thursday and the Indian foreign affairs ministry cited the absence of approval from the Chinese authorities for it not taking off.
The Chinese foreign ministry on Friday, however, said there was no delay from its side and added that the concerned departments from the two countries were communicating.
India was still waiting for China’s clearance until Friday afternoon, official sources said in Beijing.
The IAF’s largest transport aircraft, the Boeing’s C-17 Globemaster-III was expected to fly into Wuhan on Thursday with medical supplies to aid China’s fight against the covid-19 outbreak, which has killed 2239 people and infected more than 75,500 until early Thursday.
On its way back, the aircraft was expected to evacuate around 90 Indians from Wuhan and the rest of Hubei province.
The Chinese foreign ministry didn’t explain why India had to postpone the planned flight and evacuation after making the preparation for doing it on Thursday.
“China has been assisting India in flying home their citizens. By far, more than 400 Indian citizens in Hubei have returned to New Delhi. The competent departments on the two sides are still in communication on the arrangement for the remaining 80 people that India plans to fly home,” foreign ministry spokesperson, Geng Shuang said, responding to a question from HT at Friday’s online briefing.
“There is no such a thing as China delaying giving flight permissions,” Geng said.
The spokesperson added that China was offering all necessary help to save lives of foreign nationals.
“The Chinese government attaches high importance to the lives and health of all foreign nationals in China. We have offered them all necessary help they need and will continue to do so,” he said.
He went on to add that China’s prevention efforts had proven to be “effective” and advised against foreign countries “overreacting”.
“We hope that relevant countries will respect the reasonable recommendations given by the WHO and avoid overreacting. China will continue to work with the international community to fight against the epidemic and promote the global cause of public health,” Geng added.
Earlier this month, India evacuated 647 Indian and seven Maldivians from Wuhan in two special Air India flights.
