India issues travel advisory for people travelling to Hong Kong

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar. Pic/PTI

New Delhi: India issued an advisory to its citizens on Tuesday for travelling to Hong Kong, a day after flight operations were severely disrupted on August 12 at the city's international airport due to public demonstrations. The Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement, issued an advisory that read, "While operations are likely to resume on August 13, however, flights are likely to continue to be delayed and/or cancelled as it is possible that more protests may be held."

"Indian passengers are advised to be in touch with airlines to find alternative travel routes to avoid inconvenience, till normalcy is restored in airport operations," the statement read. The Ministry also advised all Indian passengers, who are already in Hong Kong and waiting to depart, to "be in touch with their respective airlines for information about likely timelines for the resumption of their flights". "Consulate can be reached at our helpline at +852 90771083," the statement informed.

Hong Kong airport authority suspended all remaining flights within a short notice on Monday after thousands of pro-democracy protesters entered the terminal's arrival halls. The airport was reopened on Tuesday, however, hundreds of flights were still listed as cancelled and all stranded passengers were seen lining up to catch their delayed flights, as airport authorities announced that it will implement rescheduling while blaming demonstrators for the chaos.

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Stranded passengers on Tuesday morning, were seen lining up to catch their delayed flights, as airport authorities announced that it will implement rescheduling while blaming demonstrators for the chaos. The city's leader Carrie Lam denounced the demonstrations saying that "lawbreaking activities in the name of freedom" were damaging the rule of law, and that Hong Kong's recovery from anti-government protests could take a long time. "Hong Kong's radical demonstrators have repeatedly used extremely dangerous tools to attack police officers, which already constitutes a serious violent crime, and also shows the first signs of terrorism emerging," Yang Guang, spokesman for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, said at a press briefing in Beijing on Monday.

With inputs from ANI

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