100k Indians to return in Vande Bharat Ph 2

NEW DELHI: A total of 100,000 Indians stranded in 60 countries across the globe due to the Covid-19 pandemic are expected to be brought back home by the end of the second phase of the country’s largest repatriation programme on June 13.

More than 308,000 Indian nationals around the world have registered with missions abroad to be repatriated on compelling grounds under the Vande Bharat Mission, external affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava told a virtual news briefing on Thursday.

“We are targeting to bring back 100,000 passengers from 60 countries by the end of Phase II. Preparations for the third phase of Vande Bharat Mission are well underway,” he said.

The first phase of Vande Bharat Mission, completed during May 7-16, resulted in the repatriation of 16,716 stranded Indians on 64 flights from a dozen countries. The second phase represents a massive scaling up of the programme, with 429 flights by Air India (311 international flights and 118 feeder flights) from 60 countries. The Navy’s warships will make four sorties to bring back stranded Indians from Iran, Sri Lanka and the Maldives during the second phase.