KATHMANDU: Reports claiming that Shambhavi Adhikari, a Nepali citizen traveling to Berlin, was stopped at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) due to bias against Nepalis are inaccurate, according to a statement issued by the India’s Ministry of Home Affairs.
It is clarified that Indian immigration authorities had no involvement in the incident. Adhikari had arrived in Delhi from Kathmandu on an Air India flight and was transiting through IGIA for her connecting Qatar Airways flight to Germany.
She was denied boarding by the airline, which determined that her visa validity did not meet the requirements of the destination country, according to the statement.
Consequently, Qatar Airways flew her back to Kathmandu, as per standard international airline and destination-country regulations. She later rescheduled her travel and successfully flew to Germany via another route from Kathmandu, it said.
International transit passengers in Delhi are not required to go through Indian immigration for their onward journeys. Such matters are handled directly between the airlines and the passengers, with no involvement from immigration authorities, according to the statement.
India deeply values its close and friendly relationship with Nepal and reiterates that no Indian authority engages in any form of bias or discrimination against Nepali citizens, it added.
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