The third leg of Vice-President Hamid Ansari’s Jakarta-Bali-Brunei trip was on Wednesday delayed after a volcanic eruption forced the suspension of air travel in the isle till Thursday. MEA officials said a fresh departure time would be fixed after Bali authorities conducted a review of the situation later in the day.
Mount Rinjani, an active volcano on the island of Lombok, is claimed to have released a cloud of ash into the air over the island late on Tuesday and flying was inadvisable, according to airport authorities here.
Gangster Chhota Rajan’s deportation to India, which was reportedly to have taken place on Wednesday, will also be delayed with the grounding of flights till Thursday.
Mr. Ansari was to leave to Brunei, on a first-of-its-kind bilateral visit, on Wednesday afternoon, where he was to meet Sultan Hassanal Bolkaiah and the crown prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah.
In Bali on Wednesday, Mr. Ansari unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at the Udayana University, addressed the students there and exchanged an MoU for collaboration in the field of Ayurveda between the AYUSH ministry and the university.
