The government of India has added 141 more flights to West Asian countries for the second phase of Vande Bharat Mission, its massive repatriation programme for citizens stranded overseas because of Covid-19-related travel restrictions.
The second phase was to end on May 22. However, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the ongoing phase will last till June 13 and that India is looking at making Frankfurt a hub for the mission.
With these new flights, more than half of them to the United Arab Emirates, the total number of flights in the second phase of the programme have gone up to more than 400, people familiar with developments said on condition of anonymity.
The flights were added due to increased demand from citizens stranded in West Asian countries and the availability of adequate quarantine facilities in states for the returning Indians, the people said. As with all the flights operated so far under Vande Bharat Mission, priority will be given in the second phase to Indian nationals with compelling reasons for returning to the country, they added.
The additional flights are from the UAE (81 flights), Oman and Saudi Arabia (15 flights each), Kuwait (14 flights), Qatar (11 flights) and Bahrain (five flights).
A majority of the flights are bound for Kerala (84 flights), while the other destinations are Delhi (10 flights), Tamil Nadu (nine flights), Telangana (six flights) Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir (five flights each), Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (four flights each), Punjab (three flights), Odisha and West Bengal (two flights each), Chandigarh, Karnataka and Goa (one flight each).
The other 260-odd flights being operated during the second phase of Vande Bharat Mission are from Armenia, Australia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Egypt, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Tajikistan, the UK, Ukraine and the US.
The second phase of the repatriation programme began on May 16 and will continue till June 13, with all the flights being operated by state-run Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express. Private airlines are likely to be included in the third phase.
As of Thursday, a total of 23,475 Indians have been repatriated under Vande Bharat Mission. The second phase had included new destinations such as Istanbul, Ho Chi Minh City and Lagos, and had increased flights to the US and Europe.
More than 259,000 Indians in 98 countries across the world have registered to return under Vande Bharat Mission. Most of them are workers (28%), students (25%), professionals (14.5%), and short-term visa holders such as tourists (7.6%). Fishermen, deportees and Indian nationals who benefited from visa amnesties have also registered.
Comments
this boppa,vijay and naren dont hve the clear picture of this RSS and sangi guys so they brak from there side as they blive we all muslims are blongs to terrorist grp thn can they explain abt this RSS and sangi guys wht they are upto they want to divied the country or make a peace loving country. till now they divied the country by the name of religons .
this guys plan same policy which played by british divied and rule this sangi and RSS are born under there rules this sangis helped thm even nw they do the same.
comment #6 wht u written in last line of ur comment this shld b applied for the people inculding sangi and RSS guys aswel
dont blame we muslims we are very proud INDIAN MUSLIMS
we are proud to b an INDIAN more then u sangi and rss guys
and dont blame others first look into u wht gd deed hve u don till nw this for boppa,vijay and naren
Dear Naren
you dont have 70 virgins ...you have to taste only one that too Najas......... Brother Mustafa left this Duniya as Tippu did . and enjoying the favours from the creator . when he was hacked to death by cowards in the dark with the help of Coward fascist police . no problem we are borned for that we do not mourne but his family will curse you and you sangh .
Bopanna and vijay, every one will know your bulsh*t sangi parivar, you are sitting in and posting comments, stupid come out, you go and fight instead of sending poor in rana rang,
Naren, don't post your stupid and bulsh*t comments, come and fight face to face, Israel is your father country they also like you killing innocent people in back door.................ISIS and RSS is the same.....isis will not attack israel because its born from there only..
Ameen
Bupa, vijaya ..Mangalore ( Naren ignored ) ....Guys if u want to know the truth about this case contact the Vakil Dinesh Hegde Ulapady...before barking
So naren kotian,
Then start to attack anti nationalist first from mohan baaghwath, thogadia and so on means rss must be removed from the route. Then only brotherhood will remain in our great country India.
Jai Hind
same third rated guys rejoiced when muslim gangs killed prashanth poojari ... and yesterday one jihadi sitting in saudi , i think by name ahmed ... said next round will be of kiran shetty :) it shows ... and it says everything ... let it be ... i wish all murderers of prashanth poojari meets same end ,i pray to god ... israel policy follow madle beku ... when anti nationalist strike our eyes , we must strike their heart, kidneys ,eyes , liver ... legs and brain ... then only systerms will be back to normal .
Well said Bopanna....these people(so called peace lovers)they only know to blame RSS...
Dear Bopanna,
What about the gather during poor prashanth poojary funeral.All are belongs to anti India criminal rss group.
Karnataka police dept is well aware about all criminal groups. They never bow to any influence or to any muscle power. They kicked your dirty leader Togadia from airport back to his home town hell.
Jai Hind! Jai Karnataka!
Bopanna seems to have too much of hatred towards mulsims despite being and earning in an Islam country
If he hates muslims he has no moral rights to be, where he is currently
A theif's friend will be another theif only.
Let the police keep an eye on all these people who attended the event - a lot of terrorists there I am sure
Masha Allah great .Rest in peac my brother mustafa.
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