China delaying permission to India to send plane to Wuhan: Official sources
NEW DELHI, Feb 22 - China is delaying grant of clearance to India�s proposal to send an Indian Air Force plane to carry relief material for people affected by coronavirus in the neighbouring country and bring back Indians from its city of Wuhan, official sources said on Saturday.
India was to send a C-17 military transport aircraft to Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, on February 20 but the plane could not take off as permission was not granted.
�China is deliberately delaying grant of clearance for the evacuation flight,� a high-level source said. Official sources said Japan, Ukraine and France have been allowed to operate flights between February 16 and 20 but India�s request has not been approved.
Chinese Embassy spokesperson Ji Rong said there was no deliberate delay in grant of permission for the Indian flight to reach Wuhan. �The current epidemic situation in Hubei is complicated, and the prevention and control of COVID-19 has entered into a critical stage. There is no such thing as China deliberately delaying granting flight permission,� he added.
The sources said Indian nationals stuck in Wuhan are waiting to be brought back home and the uncertainty over evacuation is causing them mental stress and anxiety. The aircraft was to carry a large consignment of medical supplies to China and bring back more Indians from Wuhan. Sources said while the Chinese side continues to maintain that there was no delay in granting permission for the flight to go, the clearance has �inexplicably� not been given.
In a letter to President Xi Jinping earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed India�s solidarity to the people and government of China in meeting the challenge of the coronavirus outbreak and offered to provide assistance to the country.
India then put together relief supplies in pursuance of Modi�s commitment as a token of India�s solidarity, particularly in the 70th year of the anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. �These supplies have been offered even as India faces tremendous shortage itself, given our ethos of helping others in their hour of need,� said a source aware of the issue.
The items being supplied are gloves, surgical masks, feeding pumps and defibrillators based on the requirements as indicated by the Chinese side. � PTI