Hyderabad: The Honorary Consul General of Kazakhstan in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Mir Nasir Ali Khan lauded the cooperation of the central and state governments in transporting 120 Kazakhstan nationals back to their country.
Khan played an important role in ferrying these nationals who were stranded in different cities across India. They were flown back to their country on Friday afternoon.
In an interview, the honorary Consul General said, “On March 30 when the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to India Mr Yerkan Alimbayev expressed that the “possibility of a special flight to India was being considered I began making arrangements.”
Of the 120 nationals, five are from Andhra Pradesh and one from Karnataka.
“We had to seek permissions from the Ministry of External Affairs to transport them first to Goa and from there to their homeland,” he said.
“I am grateful to the Indian and State governments and the police for extending full cooperation,” he added.
The Kazakh nationals flew back in a chartered flight.
The Kazakhstan nationals were stranded in different cities including Vrindavan, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Dwarka, Sikkim and West Bengal etc. Since all local and international flights except those operating under emergency conditions remain suspended during lockdown a chartered plane was commissioned.
The Kazakh nationals were in India for business and tourism.
About 10,000 Indian students have visited Kazakhstan as part of an educational exchange programme, especially medical education.
Several Indian companies including Dr Reddy’s and Hetero Drugs are operating in Kazakhstan.