India to evacuate pilgrims from Iran first, in talks with Tehran to set up more screening centres

India will be evacuating its pilgrims first from Iran, followed by the Indians students stranded in the country in the backdrop of novel coronavirus outbreak. 

New Delhi has also set up a medical screening centre in the central Iranian city of Qom, which is the worst impacted by the new virus. The Indian government is negotiating with the Iranian regime to establish more screening centres in other cities of Iran.

A source said Indian pilgrims have been prioritised first, and others will be facilitated only after pilgrims have been safely brought back to India. 

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with parents of stranded Indian students in Srinagar and assured that the Indian government is doing its best to bring them back.

The Indian government will be facilitating the return via normal civil aviation channels by resuming and rearranging flights and medical screening before leaving Iran. Currently, there are no direct flights between India and Iran as they have been suspended in the backdrop of coronavirus pandemic.

Iran evacuated 215 of its citizens from India. An Iranian flight arrived in India on Saturday carrying swab samples of 180 Indians. 

The samples are being tested at a laboratory in AIIMS. Indian authorities have sent six scientists from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to Iran.