Giving the update for day eight of the ‘Vande Bharat mission’, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said 12,000 Indian nationals have safely returned until now.
The MEA said it will launch the second phase of the mission from May 16 to 22 May. In the second phase, it plans to bring back Indians from 31 countries, deploy 149 flights, including feeder flights.
The ministry’s official spokesperson said until now 56 flights have brought back Indian nationals from 12 countries. In addition, 904 Indians were repatriated from Maldives by INS Jalashwa and INS Magar on May 10 and 12 respectively. Some others have arrived through deportation flights from various countries.