KARACHI: The government has decided to bring back stranded Pakistani students from Wuhan via a special flight on May 18.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfiqar Bukhari tweeted the development on Friday night, referring to those stranded in the Chinese city as “the bravest soldiers”.

In the tweet, he said: “I’m very happy for the 1st flight going to Wuhan to bring back our Pakistani students on 18/05/2020. You guys have been the bravest soldiers, PM @ImranKhanPTI & Pakistan are proud of you.”

According to details, the Pakistan International Airline (PIA) has been tasked to bring the first batch of around 250 Pakistanis, of which majority is students.

Pakistanis who had been studying in Wuhan and other cities in the Chinese province of Hubei — first region in the world to be put under a strict lockdown on Jan 20 after being declared a virus epicentre — had appealed at the time to be evacuated.

Multiple requests for evacuation were made not only by the stranded students but also by their families back home. However, the government said it would not repatriate them immediately and would follow guidelines and processes put in place by China in this regard.

To allay the fears of the students and their families, the Foreign Office in February sent two of its officials from the Beijing embassy to Wuhan while the strict lockdown was still in place. The FO said the staffers were to remain in Wuhan till the lockdown ended and would meet students in different universities to get an update on their well-being and safety.

In March, President Arif Alvi and Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mehmood Qureshi visited China and interacted with Pakistani citizens there via video link.

Upon returning from the trip, both the foreign minister and President Alvi briefed the media and said that the students were in a good condition and had only requested that Pakistani food be provided to them.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2020