Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is paying his first official visit to Georgia on July 9-10.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has welcomed his Indian counterpart at Tbilisi International Airport.
FM Zalkaliani has tweeted:
Delighted to welcome my ???????? counterpart @DrSJaishankar on his first visit to ????????, who has brought the relics of ????????'s Queen Ketevan. This visit is to definitely play a huge role in strengthening ties between our countries and upgrade our relations to a completely new level. pic.twitter.com/w2iqQZCwyk
— David Zalkaliani (@DZalkaliani) July 9, 2021
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has handed over Zalkaliani the relics of St. Queen Ketevan of Georgia 'for the Government and people of Georgia'.
FM Jaishankar has tweeted:
Warmly welcomed in Tbilisi by FM @DZalkaliani. Blessed to hand over the holy relics of St. Queen Ketevan to the people of Georgia. An emotional moment... pic.twitter.com/1eGaQpnjVE
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) July 9, 2021
FM Jaishankar will discuss the bilateral relations, as well as exchange views on issues of regional and global interest with his Georgian counterpart tomorrow.
He will also unveil the newly installed statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Tbilisi.
For the hundreds of Indian students, pursuing their medical degrees at the various universities in Georgia, the visit of FM Jaishankar is the last hope to solve the problem with the travel back to Georgia.
They are unable to finish their university studies due to the travel restrictions.
A number of them, who are 'stuck in India' amid the coronavirus pandemic, have been approaching Agenda.ge for a couple of months asking for the help, they worry to fail the university semester.
Ministry of India and also Georgian ministry of external affairs have granted us permission to complete our studies for this semester remotely. But sadly our university is not allowing us to complete it online instead they are urging us to reach their before August otherwise we will be failed for this particular semester.”, Riya Shah says in a message to Agenda.ge.
Shah also says that the Indian students need a charter flight to be arranged for them enabling to travel back to Georgia to complete their studies.
Hundreds of students like me are stuck here and nobody is responding us. I please request you to take this issue into limelight and provide us with your utmost help. Please help us in reaching to Georgia before August starts or else we will be failed for our entire semester”, the message reads.
Abhishek Yadav has also tweeted:
@agenda_ge @DrSJaishankar @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy We Indians students are stuck in india due to the strict restrictions in Georgia for Indians and we are unable to travel back as we need charter flights. Please help us get back to Georgia so that we won’t fail this semester. https://t.co/Byibe1zcgZ
— Abhishek Yadav (@abhiehekyadav) July 8, 2021
The Indian foreign ministry reports that the visit of the Indian FM Jaishankar aims to further strengthen 'the close and cordial relations' between India and Georgia.