KATHMANDU: The Vande Bharat Mission launched by India to evacuate its citizens stranded in various parts of the world due to Coronavirus pandemic has gained momentum of late.
Under the massive evacuation mission, two flights – one from Singapore and another from Riyadh – landed in Delhi and Kairapur airport in Kerala, while the Operation Samudra Setu by the Indian Navy to evacuate Indians stranded abroad using naval ships kicked off from the Maldives on Friday.
Meanwhile, the INS Jalashwa, the ship of the Eastern Naval Command, is scheduled to reach Kochi by Sunday.
Another repatriation flight from Bahrain, with 177 passengers and five infants, reached Cochin International Airport Ltd on Friday, according to The Times of India.
The flight from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia landed at Karipur Airport with 152 passengers, including 84 pregnant women on Friday evening.
Likewise, the Al-381 landed at IGI Airport with 234 passengers from Singapore on Friday afternoon. After screening, the passengers were sent to quarantine at various hotels while those from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Himanchal Pradesh were sent home in buses.
Around 250 Indian students and tourists stranded in the UK for nearly two months are also preparing to board the first repatriation from London to Mumbai on Saturday.
A total of 14,800 stranded passengers will be brought back, Indian media reported.
India has been under a lockdown since March 25 to curb the spread of Coronavirus pandemic with all the scheduled commercial passenger flights suspended.
With inputs from Agencies)
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