Russia condemns priest’s deportation from Chennai Airport

New Delhi : The Russian Embassy in the national capital has condemned the deportation of Russian citizen, Father Seraphim, by the immigration authorities of the Chennai International Airport.”Unacceptable is the fact that Russian diplomats were denied for seven hours the contact with the priest at the airport. He was also denied basic assistance, including food, despite the requests from the Embassy and the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Chennai,” a statement by the Embassy said. The statement added that such ‘disrespect’ shown to a priest from a ‘friendly’ country went against the spirit of mutual affinity and cooperation characteristic of Russian-Indian relationship.Earlier, Father Seraphym, working in the department of foreign relationship with Asia in the Russian Orthodox Church, was deported at the Chennai airport on Sunday on grounds that he had only a tourist visa.