Nepal bus tragedy: Air Force plane to bring bodies of Maharashtra pilgrims to Nashik on Saturday
Mumbai/Jalgaon (PTI): An Indian Air Force plane will bring the bodies of the Maharashtra pilgrims killed in a bus accident in Nepal to Nashik on Saturday, officials have said.
Tragedy struck north Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district on Friday as at least 27 pilgrims from the region died after the tourist bus they were travelling in veered off the highway and fell into the fast-flowing Marsyangdi river in central Nepal.
The victims were from Varangaon, Daryapur, Talvel and Bhusaval in Jalgaon district, 470 km from Mumbai, officials said.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde spoke to Union Home Minister Amit Shah who assured all possible help, they added.
An Indian Air Force plane will transport the bodies to Nashik on Saturday, said a state government release late on Friday evening.
The incident occurred in the Anbookhaireni area in Chitawan district of Nepal when the bus from Gorakhpur carrying 43 passengers, including the driver and two helpers, was heading towards Kathmandu from Pokhara.
While 16 people died on the spot, 11 succumbed to their injuries during treatment, Deputy Spokesperson of Armed Police Force (APF) Shailendra Thapa told PTI in Kathmandu.
Sixteen people who sustained injuries have been airlifted to Kathmandu and admitted at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, he said.
The passengers were part of a group of 104 Indian pilgrims who arrived in Nepal from Maharashtra in three buses two days ago for a 10-day tour of the Himalayan nation, MyRepublica news portal reported.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis condoled the deaths in a message on X.
State Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Anil Patil said the state government was in touch with the relief commissioner of Uttar Pradesh and the Indian embassy in Kathmandu.
Senior NCP (SP) leader and former Maharashtra minister Eknath Khadse said this group of pilgrims had travelled to Ayodhya four days ago.
Khadse, who hails from Jalgaon district, told PTI that he visited the families of the victims and survivors after learning about the tragedy.
Union minister Raksha Khadse, his daughter-in-law, will travel to Kathmandu as she had received permission from the PMO to oversee the return of the victims and survivors, he added.
The Maharashtra government identified 16 persons from Jalgaon as "reported deceased".
Ramjeet alias Munna, Sarla Rane (42), Bharti Jawade (62), Tulshiram Tawade (62), Sarla Tawade (62), Sandeep Sarode (45), Pallavi Sarode (43), Anup Sarode (22), Ganesh Bharambe (40), Nilima Dhande (57), Pankaj Bhangade (45), Pari Bharambe (8 years), Anita Patil, Vijaya Jhawade (50), Rohini Jhawade (51) and Prakash Kodi reportedly died in the accident, it said.
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Ajit Doval briefs Putin on Modi's Kyiv visit
New Delhi, Sep 12: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Thursday briefed Russian President Vladmir Putin on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv amid renewed efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Ukraine conflict.
Doval met Putin at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St Petersburg on the margins of a conclave of the (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) grouping.
"As the prime minister told you during a telephone talk that he was keen to brief you about his visit to Ukraine and his meeting with President Zelenskyy. He (PM Modi) wanted me to come and personally brief you about the talks," Doval told the Russian President.
The NSA said the Modi-Zelenskyy talks were in a very "close format".
"I have come here on the direction of Prime Minister Modi who has conveyed his highest regards to you. His visit to Moscow was greatly successful and he was highly satisfied with the visit," Doval was heard conveying to Putin in a video released by Russian media.
The Putin-Doval meeting came nearly three weeks after Modi travelled to Ukranian capital Kyiv and held talks with Zelenskyy.
Last week, the Russian President, speaking at a panel discussion at the Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian city of Vladivostok named India, Brazil and China as possible intermediaries that could play a role in resolving the conflict.
In the meeting with Doval, Putin proposed a bilateral meeting with Modi on October 22 on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan next month.
The summit of the grouping will be held in Kazan from October 22-24. Modi is set to attend the summit.
In his talks with Zelenskyy, Modi said both Ukraine and Russia should sit together without wasting time to end the ongoing war and that India was ready to play an "active role" to restore peace in the region.
The prime minister said India was on the side of peace since the beginning of the conflict and he would even like to contribute personally for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.
Modi's nearly nine-hour visit to Ukraine, the first by an Indian prime minister since its independence in 1991, came six weeks after he held summit talks with Putin in Moscow.
In the last few days, there has been calls for India's potential role in pushing peace talks between Russia and Ukraine as New Delhi has good relations with both the nations.
India has been maintaining that the conflict in Ukraine must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.
On Saturday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni following her talks with Zelenskyy said India and China can play a role in finding a solution to the dragging conflict.
A Kremlin readout of Putin-Doval meeting said the Russian president "noted the successful development of the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between India and Russia and stressed the importance of security issues in bilateral relations, thanking the Indian side for maintaining dialogue in this area."
It said the Russian president proposed the bilateral meeting with Modi to "summarise the outcomes of joint work" on the implementation of the agreements reached during the Indian leader's visit to Moscow and to outline prospects for the near future.
"We are waiting for our good friend Modi and best regards to him," the Russian media quoted Putin as saying in the meeting with Doval.
On Wednesday, the NSA held wide-ranging talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu focusing on important issues of "mutual interests".
"Both sides reviewed progress in bilateral cooperation and discussed important issues of mutual interest," the Indian embassy in Russia said on the talks between Doval and Shoigu.
