Indians stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran will be brought through normal civil aviation channels: MEA

"Arrangements are being made to facilitate the return of stranded Indians from areas of concern through normal civil aviation channels. We need good cooperation from Iranian authorities so that an appropriate screening process can be set up before the Indian nationals can be facilitated to take the flight back home," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on Thursday while adressing a weekly media briefing.

Kumar said as of now no Indian in Iran has been infected with the deadly virus.

A 24x7 helpline has been set up to help Indians get in touch with the Indian embassy, he stated.

"The Indian embassy is constantly keeping in touch with the pilgrims, fishermen, and other Indian communities. We have asked them to follow health protocols as advised by WHO and local authorities," he told the newspersons.

Replying to a question if 495 Iranian tourists, who arrived in India, are indeed untraceable, as some reports have said, Kumar clarified that the Indian government has not been informed by the embassy of Iran about any missing Iranian tourist.

"Whenever, a foreign national goes missing, the embassy of that country is the first to know. However, I want to point out that these tourists had entered India much before the outbreak of COVID-19 in Iran. I think we should not panic over their presence in India. They are not untraceable. Had they been so, the Iranian embassy would have informed us," Kumar stated.

Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar tweeted, "Update for Indians stranded in #Iran and for their families: Our medical team for screening arrives in Iran today. Hope to establish first clinic at Qom by this evening. Screening process will start immediately thereafter. Working on logistics of return with Iranian authorities."

Asked as to why India is not sending a special flight to bring back Indians stuck in Iran amid coronavirus scare like it did to evacuate stranded India's from Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, Kumar said, Wuhan had been turned into a restricted territory and commercial flights were not operating, but this is not the case with Iran so far. 

According a Guardian report, at least 3,513 cases of novel coronavirus have been confirmed in Iran, according to the country’s health ministry. So far, there have been 107 deaths.

Kumar did not rule out future travel restrictions when asked if India will cancel the visas of more countries in the coming days.

"This is an evolving situation. In a week or so there has been an update every day. The government will decide based on how widespread the disease is," he informed.

On Japan's concern that travel restriction imposed  will adversely impact the economy of both the countries, he said, "Every country is taking steps to contain the spread of the disease within their boundaries. In a country like India with a population of 1.3 billion, we have to take steps to arrest the spread of the infection. Japan has taken steps in this direction and so has India."