16.45 lakh Indians have returned from abroad under Vande Bharat mission

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava informed that around 16.45 lakh Indians have returned from abroad after Centre launched the Vande Bharat mission amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He also stated that Phase 7 of Vande Bharat mission has been operationalised from October 1 with 820 international flights scheduled from 19 countries.

New Delhi:As many as 16.45 lakh Indians have returned from abroad after the Central government launched the 'Vande Bharat' evacuation mission on May 7 because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said that phase six has come to an end and under this phase, 894 international flights and 142 feeder flights have been operated from 24 countries reaching 24 airports across India.

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

"To meet the continued demand, Phase 7 of VBM has been operationalised from October 1, 2020. As of now, 820 international flights have been scheduled from 19 countries to be operated under Phase 7 during this month," Srivastava said at an online media briefing.

These include main flights from among the 14 countries with which India has a bilateral 'air bubble' arrangement 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 a further assessment of demand for repatriation from other countries and projected the requirements to Air India, Srivastava said.

Flights will be scheduled from these additional stations in the coming days, he said.

PTI report

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