EAM Jaishankar visits Kashmir, meets parents of students stranded in Iran
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This is the first visit to the state by the minister after he took charge of the EAM.
India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday made a surprise visit to Kashmir where he met parents of those students who are stranded in Iran amid Coronavirus outbreak.
This is the first visit to the state by the minister after he took charge of the EAM.
Jaishankar's landed at Srinagar airport in the morning and directly went to meet the family members and assured them of the safe return of their wards.
"The minister assured us that students will be brought back safely but we are worried about our children," a parent told WION after meeting the minister.
He said the minister told them the priority is to bring back pilgrims and then the students.
Around a hundred parents from different districts of the valley had arrived to meet the minister. The meeting lasted for an hour after which he went to the regional passport office in Srinagar where he, according to sources, directed the officials to help the stranded with passport issues.
"We have requested the minister to take all the necessary precautions to bring them (students) back soon. The virus is spreading fast, so we are worried," said Nazir Ahmad, whose ward is studying in Iran.
The parents also raised the demand to increase the medical screening centres, so that the evacuation is timely.
Iran has reported 49 new deaths from novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours. This has taken the death toll in the Islamic Republic to 194 with 6,566 confirmed cases.