TDP national president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu thanked External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Wednesday for his efforts to bring back Telugu students, in particular, and all other Indians who were left stranded at Kuala Lumpur airport after the Centre banned the entry of flights from Malaysia in a bid to contain novel coronavirus outbreak.
"At the outset, I would like to thank you on the behalf of people of Andhra Pradesh and on my own personal behalf for the efforts you have rendered in getting back the number of Indians in general and Telugu people in particular from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Your quick response and coordination to bring back the stranded Indians from Kuala Lumpur airport is highly appreciable and will be remembered by the Telugu people," Naidu wrote in a letter dated March 18, 2020, and addressed to the External Affairs Minister.
Around 250 to 300 Indians are stranded in Kuala Lumpur airport and many of them are students are en route to India from the Philippines. "I also take this opportunity to thank your team and Air Asia for rendering the service of bringing back our people to home during these troubled times. The special flight to Visakhapatnam in addition to Delhi would allow our children to reach home safer and faster," Naidu added.
On late Tuesday evening, Jaishankar announced that the Centre has allowed an Air Asia flight from Kuala Lumpur to land in Visakhapatnam carrying all the 250 Indians were stuck at the Kuala Lumpur airport.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for more "aggressive" action to curb the coronavirus in Southeast Asia, after the European Union, now at the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, moved to seal off its borders.
Southeast Asia is facing a wave of infections that originate from an event at a mosque on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur attended by some 16,000 people. Malaysia now has the biggest outbreak in the region.
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Malaysian Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has announced some of the most far-reaching measures including locking down all travel in or out of the country in an effort to stem infections of COVID-19.
Foreign tourists and visitors have also been restricted from entering the country.
Beginning a 14-day partial lockdown from today, the country has so far reported 673 confirmed cases of coronavirus.