A PIA chartered flight, arranged by the Sindh government to rescue the stranded Pakistani students, reached Karachi Airport from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Saturday afternoon, bringing over 180 stranded students from the Central Asian country.
The flight had been specially arranged on the instruction of Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah. Governor Kamran Khan Tessori, Senior Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, Energy Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, Sindh government spokesperson Ganhwar Khan Isran and Deputy Mayor Karachi Salman Murad warmly welcomed the students at the airport.
Speaking on the occasion, governor expressed gratitude to the prime minister, the foreign minister and the chief minister for their efforts to arrange the special flight to bring back to Pakistan the students stranded in the Central Asian state.
Tessori said he would continue to make efforts to bring back the remaining stranded Pakistani students from Kyrgyzstan.
Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said, “We are happy that our students have reached their homeland to rejoin their loved ones. The Sindh government has ensured the safe return of students from country to their homes.”
He said the students belonging to Pakistan had gone through traumatic conditions in Kyrgyzstan. ON Saturday’s flight, students from all over Pakistan have come, including Sindh, and they have been brought back on a PIA chartered flight managed by the Sindh government.
He said that when troubled events had been unfolding in Kyrgyzstan and parents were worried, President Asif Ali Zardari and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari issued special instructions for the safe return of students from Kyrgyzstan.
They instructed the Sindh government to take the initiative for the return of the students and bring them back to home on chartered planes.
He said the CM had announced that more chartered flights would be arranged for the return of remaining Pakistani students stuck in Kyrgyzstan.
Memon said the first flight of students from Bishkek was welcomed by the CM. However, due to an important meeting in Islamabad, he instructed the provincial ministers to welcome the students on Saturday.
Talking to the media, Minister Nasir Hussain Shah said the PPP leadership was fully aware of the pain of the concerned parents whose children had been stranded on the foreign soil.
He said the Sindh government would provide treatment to any injured student, regardless of their native area in Karachi. President Asif Ali Zardari and Chairman Bilawal Bhutto issued instructions to rescue the children on the day news of riots and Pakistani students being trapped in Bishkek emerged.
The students, along with their parents, expressed gratitude to the Sindh government for ensuring their safe return.