While India continues to evacuate its citizens from coronavirus hit China, Pakistanis remain stuck in Wuhan as the Pakistan government has refused to evacuate their citizens who are stranded there.
A video is doing rounds on social media in which a Pakistani student can be heard slamming the Pakistan government over its refusal to save them, as he watches Indian students being evacuated by Indian authorities. The video, which has now gone viral on social, shows many people boarding a bus which would later take them to the airport where they will be airlifted.
In the video, a man introduces himself as a Pakistani student, says that the bus was sent by the Indian Embassy to safely carry the Indian students stuck in Wuhan, China and take them to the airport from where they will be airlifted. Later, he goes on to say that the Pakistani government is not concerned about their well being. At the end of the video, the man can be heard saying “shame on you Pakistan government… learn something from India, learn how they care about their citizens”.
After the video went viral on social media, netizens took to Twitter to support the Pakistani students stuck in China and requested governments of both the countries, India and Pakistan, to help them. One user said, "India government should evacuate #Pakistanistudents too." While other user said, "Request @ImranKhanPTI to listen to Pakistani students in Wuhan."
But despite strong criticism from, the Pakistan government has decided to stay firm on its earlier decision against the repatriation of Pakistanis stuck in virus-hit China. Addressing the media on Saturday, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health, Zafar Mirza said: "It (coronavirus) is now being transferred from human to human. It means that a person affected with the virus can also become a source for the transfer of the virus. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the situation an emergency of international concern. Being a responsible nation, Pakistan wants to take steps that ensure the safety of maximum people."
Mirza declared that the decision of non-repatriation of Pakistani citizens from China was final, saying that the government had "complete trust" in Beijing's policies to combat the epidemic.
In the meanwhile, India on Sunday airlifted the second batch of 323 stranded Indians and seven Maldivian citizens from China's coronavirus-hit Wuhan city, taking the total number of people evacuated to 654.
Air India's jumbo B747 made two flights to Wuhan city - the ground zero of the coronavirus epidemic that has killed 304 people and infected 14,380 others.
