By IANS,
New Delhi : After evacuating 116 Indian nationals, most of them medical students, to Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, the government Tuesday said it was making all efforts to ensure that those who want to return can do so this week and help those opting to stay in view of the improving situation in the Central Asian nation.
The Indians stranded in the riot-hit southern Kyrgyz towns of Osh and Jalal-Abad were safely evacuated Monday night by air to Bishkek, the external affairs ministry said here.
While some of the students want to stay on at Bishkek, some others would like to return to India. “The Indian mission is making efforts to ensure that the students travel to India over the next few days by commercial or chartered flights, which are operating normally in and out of Bishkek,” said the ministry.
Against the backdrop of some students in Kyrgyzstan complaining of indifferent treatment by the Indian mission, the external affairs ministry asserted that the Indian mission in Bishkek has worked hard to assist the Indian nationals in distress and has done its best under the circumstances.
“Despite the heavy odds, the embassy of India in Bishkek, in close coordination with the Kyrgyz authorities, managed to safely evacuate all the Indian nationals to Bishkek late last night,” the ministry said.
“Hostel accommodation and meals, as possible under the circumstances, have been arranged for the students at Bishkek, by the embassy,” the ministry said. “Some of the students have lost their passports. Our mission will issue new passports and other travel documents as required in such cases,” it added.
“The embassy of India, Bishkek, has worked hard to assist the Indian nationals in distress and continues to extend all possible assistance to them,” the ministry stressed.
The ministry’s clarification came after some TV channels aired reports showing some students complaining of rude treatment by officials of the Indian mission. In one of the reports, a student complained that he had no place to sleep Monday night after Indian students were evacuated to safety.
Around 116 Indians were feared trapped in the riot-hit former Soviet republic. The stranded Indians included 15 students in Jalal-Abad and 99 students, a professor and a businessman in Osh.
In the worst ethnic violence in decades, at least 124 people have been killed and more than 1,685 wounded in southern Kyrgyzstan.