Krishna describes Egypt crisis its ‘internal affair’
By ANITuesday, February 1, 2011
NEW DELHI - External Affairs Minister S M Krishna describing the anti-government protests in Egypt as an ‘internal affair’, on Tuesday said the safety of Indians in Egypt is the government’s priority.
“It is the internal affairs of Egypt, and as a friendly country to Egypt, we hope that a resolution could be found which would be acceptable to those who are demonstrating and agitating,” he told reporters.
Krishna said that there were around 3,600 Indian nationals in Egypt, and that the government was taking all steps to safeguard them.
“Safety of Indians in Egypt is one of our highest priorities. We have already alerted our Ambassador Swaminathan in Cairo. I have been in constant touch with him and Foreign Secretary is in constant touch with our embassy there,” he said.
An Air India plane, carrying about 300 stranded passengers from strife-torn Egypt, landed at Mumbai’s CST Airport on Monday afternoon.
The Boeing 747-800 was flown to Cairo on Sunday as a special measure to airlift the Indians stranded there amidst nationwide unrest against the Egyptian government.
Another Air India plane has left for Cairo to bring back the second batch of Indians. (ANI)
