NEW DELHI : Desperate times, they say, call for desperate, or at least out-of-the-box, measures. With the novel coronavirus stopping almost all travel, especially air travel between countries, Indian diplomats have had to adopt some novel means to get to their stations.
India’s high commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay arrived in Colombo earlier this month, several weeks after he was freed from his duties as joint secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office. Baglay landed in Colombo in an Indian Air Force special flight, which was carrying some 12.5 tonnes of medicines for Sri Lanka. He presented his credentials to the Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapakse via video link.
India’s newly appointed permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), T.S. Tirumurthy reached New York by an Air India flight, which on its return was to bring back stranded Indians from the US. He also presented his credentials virtually to UN secretary general Antonio Guterres.
