Will repatriate 1L passengers from 60 nations, says Jaishankar

External affairs minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar presided over a detailed review meeting of the ongoing Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) in the capital on Tuesday — that deals with repatriation of thousands of Indians from abroad who have a compelling reason to return amid the global Coronavirus pandemic — while announcing that the Government would move to repatriate a whopping one lakh passengers from 60 countries and that approval had been granted to commence chartered flights as well. The EAM announced that the government is “ramping up” the scale of the VBM and “enhancing its efficiency”. He said the Navy would evacuate Indian fishermen from Iran starting next month and that Indians have started returning through land borders as well from today (Tuesday).

The EAM also said national carrier Air India would “shortly shift to direct ticketing to facilitate bookings abroad” and that the Union Government is “working with state governments for more efficient use of cumulative quarantine capacity”, adding that repatriation “arrangements are being made for amnesty beneficiaries in the Gulf” as well. It may be recalled that the second phase of the VBM that is currently underway had begun from May 16-17 and will culminate on June 13. The first phase had been conducted before that from May 7 to 15. There will be a third phase too after June 13 and preparations for this phase were also discussed at the meet.