Help came swift when Indian in Malaysia tweeted to MEA

Not a panic phone call or lengthy email, but just an SOS in 140 characters in Twitter was enough for an Indian abroad caught in a difficult situation to find help from the MEA.

Chartered Accountant Anil Biyani was hopelessly stuck in Kuala Lumpur with the remains of his aunt who had passed away.  It was February 7, a Saturday when the Indian High Commission in Malaysia was closed for the weekend, and Biyani had no way of repatriating his aunt’s remains back to Mumbai.

Helpless, he did what he knew best: tweet an SOS to Ministry of External Affairs’ spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin. Little did Biyani knew that a tweet was all it took for the officials of the High Commission to get him out of the jam. As it emerged, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin immediately got in touch with India’s High Commissioner to Malaysia, T S Tirumurti, who was in New Delhi to attend the Heads of Missions Conference.

High Commission officials helped Biyani book his aunt’s remains in Malaysian Airlines flight MH 194 the very next day and help him travel with the remains back home.

In fact, intervention by the Indian officials helped speed-up the autopsy of his aunt’s body. Soon after the autopsy report was issued on the morning of Sunday, February 8, Indian High Commission issued necessary documentation for repatriation of the body.

Not surprisingly, Biyani tweeted his thanks: “Thank you sir - all things taken care of!! You are really amazing help.”

“Glad we could help in your hour of grief. Hope u (you) bear this loss with fortitude,” Akbaruddin replied.

“Humanity shrinks distance,” another appreciative Twitterati summed up the instance of how an Indian citizen used the micro-blogging site to contact the MEA and get its prompt assistance during his hour of grief.

MEA’s response to Biyani’s tweet took place on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was asking Indian Ambassadors and High Commissioners around the world to “remain ahead of the curve in digital diplomacy,” while addressing  the Heads of Missions conference in New Delhi.