Embassy assisting with repatriation of Pakistani student’s body from China: FO

The Foreign Office (FO) on Sunday said that the Embassy of Pakistan in Beijing was facilitating the process of the repatriation of the dead body of a Pakistani student who passed away in China and was in contact with the university and her family members.

Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, responding to the social media reports on the delay in repatriation of the mortal remains of a Pakistani student, said in a statement,

“The Embassy of Pakistan in Beijing is facilitating the process. It is working towards completion of the legal procedures and to facilitate repatriation with the next available Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight.”

She said that legal procedures and regulations needed to be fulfilled in the repatriation of dead bodies from China.

Furthermore, she said that the transportation through commercial flights involved special arrangements including embalming of the body and transportation of the remains in a specialised vehicle with cold storage.

The dead body can be sent after the completion of these arrangements.

She said that at the embassy’s intervention, the insurance company had agreed to pay compensation to the family and the university had also offered to bear the cost of transportation of the dead body.

In June, before concluding his five-day visit to China, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced sending as many as 1,000 students to the brotherly country for advanced training in the agriculture sector.

Last month, South Punjab Additional Chief Secretary Fawad Hashim Rabbani met Chinese Consul General Zhao Shiren to discuss matters of mutual interest, including plans to cultivate red chilli in the region.

To address youth unemployment and poverty, Zhao Shiren proposed sending 200,000 Pakistani students to China forinformation technology training. He also announced that Huawei experts would provide artificial intelligence and IT training to South Punjab’s youth.

China expressed its commitment to supporting Pakistan’s agricultural sector through initiatives such as corporate farming, seed research, improving cotton quality, and modern irrigation systems.

Zhao Shiren indicated that a Chinese company would visit South Punjab to assess red chilli pepper cultivation, while a South Punjab delegation would be sent to China to study advancements in various sectors.