Over 17 lakh Indians repatriated through different modes under Vande Bharat Mission
New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said as many as 17.2 lakhs Indians have been repatriated through different modes under the Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) till Oct 7.
"As on 7 October, 17.22 lakh Indians have been repatriated through different modes of the Vande Bharat Mission. These include Air India and Air India Express flights, private and foreign carriers, chartered flights, naval ships and land border crossings," Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson of the External Affairs said at the weekly briefing.
"Under Phase 7 of VBM, operational since 1 October 2020, 873 international flights have been scheduled from 25 countries to be operated during the course of October 2020.," he said.
"These include flights from among the 14 countries with which India has a bilateral ‘air bubble’ arrangement in place. The air bubble arrangement has been working satisfactorily adding to the capacity," he said.
"These flights will reach 24 airports across India, repatriating an estimated 1.7 lakh people. As on 7 October, 210 flights have already been operated from 18 countries," he said.
The Vande Bharat mission is the biggest ever repatriation drive in the Aviation history in bringing back Indian nationals stranded abroad amid the international lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic
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