Vande Bharat: Over 800 stranded Indians return home on four repatriation flights

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that over 800 Indian citizens stranded abroad returned home on four flights from Doha, San Francisco, Melbourne and Sydney to Delhi, Gaya, Kochi and Ahmedabad on Monday under the Vande Bharat Mission.

New Delhi:Over 800 Indian citizens stranded abroad were repatriated on four flights from Doha, San Francisco, Melbourne and Sydney on Monday under the Vande Bharat Mission, said Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

"Vande Bharat - Mission of Hope and Happiness. 833 Indian citizens return on four flights from Doha, San Francisco, Melbourne and Sydney to Delhi, Gaya, Kochi and Ahmedabad on May 25, 2020," Puri tweeted on Monday.

The central government launched the first phase of the Vande Bharat Mission on May 7 to evacuate Indians stranded abroad due to coronavirus induced lockdown. The second phase started on May 16.

Last week, Puri had said that upwards of 20 thousand Indian citizens have been brought back to the country under the mission so far and the number will rise further in the coming days.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) recently announced that the second phase of the mission has been extended to June 13.

"The second phase of this mission began from May 16 onward and this phase will last till June 13. We are looking to bring back our nationals from 47 countries on 162 flights in this phase," MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.

"In this phase, we are including places like Istanbul, Ho Chi Minh City, Lagos, etc and also increasing flights to the US and to Europe. We also looking at developing Frankfurt as a hub," he added.

ANI Report