By: TP News     Date: 2/22/2020 10:13:18 AM

China:

Chinese authorities are “deliberately delaying” clearance for a third Indian flight that was expected to ferry medical and relief supplies and bring back some 100 Indian nationals from the Coronavirus-affected Hubei province, people familiar with developments said on Saturday.India had planned to send a massive C-17 Globe master military transport aircraft to Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, on February 21, but the flight has been unable to leave because of lack of clearance from Chinese authorities.

The people cited above, who spoke on condition of anonymity,said the Chinese government is yet to grant clearance to the flight carrying relief supplies that would also bring back the remaining Indian nationals in Wuhan.“The Chinese side is deliberately delaying the grant of clearance for the evacuation flight. They continued to maintain there is no delay even on Friday,the day the flight was supposed to go, but inexplicably the clearance has notbeen given,” said a person who declined to be identified.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently written to Chinese President Xi Jinping to convey the solidarity of the people and government of India with their Chinese counterparts in meeting the challenge of the coronavirus outbreak and offered to provide whatever assistance India could. The Indian government then put together relief supplies in line with this commitment as a token of solidarity, particularly in the 70th year of diplomatic relations, the people said.“These supplies have been offered even as India faces tremendous shortage itself, given our ethos of helping others,especially neighbours, in their hour of need,” said the person cited above.

The materials that were to be ferried by the flight includeg loves, surgical masks, feeding and infusion pumps, and defibrillators and were put together based on the requirements indicated by the Chinese side, the people said.