The Indian government is planning to bring back 343 Indian students stranded in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Delhi and Visakhapatnam in two Air Asia flights, an official at the Ministry of External Affairs, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said.
The flights might take off on Wednesday, the official added.
The students are stranded in Kuala Lumpur in the wake of the Indian government’s decision to impose a temporary ban on international arrivals from several countries, including Malaysia, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several students hailing from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, who spoke to The Hindu on Tuesday evening, said they had been asked to leave Manila in the Philippines as the number of COVID-19 cases had been steadily increasing there.
Harshina, who hails from Anantapur and is studying medicine in Manila, is among the 343 students trying to get on to a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Chennai.
“We do not have any medical support in Manila and it is very costly there, so When the Philippines government gave us 72 hours time to move out of the country. We landed in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday and were scheduled to leave for Chennai by 9 p.m. flight,” Ms. Harshina said.
Another student, Chetan Adury from Hyderabad, said that they had contacted the Indian embassy and had been pleading with the consular officials to allow them to board flights to India. “Our documents are being verified in batches of 10 by the Kuala Lumpur immigration authorities and we hope they get a positive response from the Indian government,” said Mr. Adury.
The students have been sending video messages asking the Indian government to allow them to return to the country.
