Families all over India are burying loved ones.Credit:AP
She did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.
The developments sparked mixed reactions from leaders in Australia’s Indian community on Saturday.
Dr Jagvinder Singh Virk,the chairman of the India Australia Strategic Alliance,said he feared further deaths before flights for Australians stranded in India resume on May 15.
The woman sent the letter about her father’s death in India to Prime Minister Scott Morrison.Credit:Kate Geraghty
“Why they are waiting for the 15th I don’t understand,” he said. “It is a war-like situation.”
However the president of the India Club in Sydney,Shubha Kumar,said because the deceased man was a permanent resident and not an Australian citizen it was up to the consulate to protect his interests.
“The responsibility for permanent residents does not fall on our Prime Minister Scott Morrison or the Australian government,” she said.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne confirmed the man’s death during a radio interview on Friday but said she did not wish to speculate on how the man died and would receive further advice.
“Let me extend my sympathy,and that of the government,to the family of this person and to so many families that we know are dealing with what is an extraordinary challenge,with infection rates surging over 400,000 infections a day in India,” Senator Payne told 2GB.
“There are verymany families dealing with this challenge.”
Australia’s high commissioner to India Barry O’Farrell told the Senate’s COVID-19 inquiry on Friday that DFAT was providing consular assistance to the family.
“The department’s aware and providing consular assistance in accordance with its charter to the family of an Australian permanent resident who reportedly has died in India,and I’m advised that owing to our privacy obligations we won’t be providing any further comment,” he said.
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India is recording more than 400,000 cases per day and recently surged to new highs with 414,188 positive test results on Friday.
More than 230,000 people have died of COVID-19 in India and there are widespread reports of oxygen shortages and overwhelmed hospitals.
As a result of the escalating crisis,the Australian government banned flights from India and announced anyone attempting to break the new rules would facefines of up to $66,600 or five years in prison.
More than 9000 Australians in India are registered aswanting to return home,650 of them are defined as vulnerable.