Vande Bharat Mission: Over 16 Lakh Indians Returned from Abroad

The Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday said that, As many as 16.45 lakh Indians have returned from abroad after the govt launched the Vande Bharat evacuation mission on May 7 in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

Anurag Srivastava, Spokesperson Ministry of External Affairs, said phase 6 of Vande Bharat Mission has come to an end and under this phase, 894 international flights and 142 feeder flights are operated from 24 countries reaching 24 airports across India.

He said under phase six, 1.75 lakh people were repatriated. As on 30 September, 16.45 lakh Indians are repatriated through different modes of the Vande Bharat Mission.

“To meet the continued demand, Phase 7 of Vande Bharat Mission has been operationalized from October 1, 2020. As of now, 820 international flights are scheduled from 19 countries to be operated under Phase 7 during the course of this month,” Srivastava said at a web media briefing.

These include main flights from among the 16 countries with which India has a bilateral air bubble agreement in place, he said. These flights will reach 24 airports across India, repatriating an estimated 1.5 lakh people, he added.

The ministry has undertaken an additional assessment of demand for repatriation from other countries and projected the necessities to Air India, Srivastava said. Flights are going to be scheduled from these additional stations in the coming days, he said.

Also Read: VBM: Update On Air India Flights Between Australia And India For October