India over the past few years has made a name for itself by rescuing its distressed citizens from foreign shores and during the process has even helped the foreign nationals to reach to safety. The swift response by the Indian government to rescue its citizens from Wuhan, China due to the Coronavirus outbreak is a testament to that fact. During the evacuation of the Indian nationals, India rescued 7 Maldivian nationals in Wuhan and hence, has rightfully earned the tag of being a regional superpower.
The second Air India special flight to Wuhan returned home to Delhi on Sunday after successfully evacuating 323 Indians. The flight also had seven Maldivian nationals on board. Maldives’ Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for helping the seven Maldivian nationals get out of China amid the coronavirus scare. The Maldivian nationals will be housed in Delhi for some days, according to Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid. “7 Maldivians in Wuhan are on their way to Delhi on a special AirIndia flight. Upon arrival they will be housed in Delhi for a period of quarantine. Deep gratitude to PM @narendramodi and EM @DrSJaishankar. Special thanks to Ambassadors @VikramMisri @sunjaysudhir and their teams,” Abdulla Shahid said in a tweet.
He further termed India’s help as “an action that reflects historic ties of kinship between the two countries and synergy between the Neighbourhood First and India First policy”.
This move comes at a time when Pakistan’s puppet Prime Minister Imran Khan has refused to evacuate its distressed citizens to “show solidarity with China”. In a heart-wrenching video, Pakistani students were seen appealing for help and evacuation and slamming the Pakistan government over its refusal to save the lot. A Pakistani student in the video can be heard saying: “Bangladeshis will also be evacuated later. Then it is us Pakistanis who are stranded here and our government says we won’t evacuate you even if you die, get infected or are still alive. Shame on you Pakistan government, learn something from the Indians.” In another video, three women students wearing masks can be seen appealing to the people of Pakistan asking for help. The women say their families in Pakistan are also suffering because of the crisis and they are stranded in Wuhan with no food available too as the city is in lockdown.
The recent turn of events highlights the difference between India and Pakistan where one has left its citizens to die in China, India has moved swiftly to rescue not only its citizens but also of India’s neighbours as it implements its neighbourhood first policy.
