‘#NeighbourhoodFirst’, tweets Jaishankar as India evacuates seven Maldivians from coronavirus-hit Wuhan

7 Maldivians brought back with 323 Indians from Wuhan on the second @airindiain flight today. #NeighbourhoodFirst at work again. @ibusolih @MohamedNasheed @abdulla_shahid

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 2, 2020

After a meeting with the External Affairs Minister of Maldives in December last year, Jaishankar had renewed emphasis on ‘Neighbourhood first’ policy of India. “Both sides noted that India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and Maldives’ ‘India First’ policy were working in tandem to further strengthen a dynamic, multifaceted and mutually beneficial partnership that rests on the foundation of mutual trust, understanding and sensitivity to each other’s concerns,” a joint statement issued by the two countries after talks said.

In the first Air India flight on Saturday, 324 Indians were evacuated. Half of them were taken to the 300-bed isolation centre set up by the Indian Army at Manesar, while the remaining were kept in a quarantine facility in Chhawla Camp on Saturday. Out of the 324 Indians, 56, 53 and 42 are from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, respectively. However, none of them has tested positive for the virus. Five doctors from the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital, were on board both the flights that evacuated the Indians from Wuhan.