India is all set to evacuate thousands of its nationals stranded in several countries due to ongoing Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the mega mission, the Central government has given the go-ahead to operate two special flights from Qatar to India. The first flight will be from the capital city of Qatar to Kerala’s Kochi on May, Embassy of India in Doha was quoted as saying by ANI. The second flight will be from Dohar to Thiruvananthapuram on May 10, the Embassy added.
The operation of two flights from Qatar to Kerala is a part of Modi’s government’s mega mission to evacuate close to 15,000 Indians stranded in 12 countries between May 7 and May 13. As many as 64 flights will be operated by the central government in the first week of operation to bring stranded Indians from different countries, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri was quoted as saying by ANI. Out of these 64 flights, 10 will be sent to UAE, two to Qatar, five to Saudi Arabia, seven to the United Kingdom, five to Singapore, seven to the United States, five to the Philippines, seven to Bangladesh, two to Bahrain, seven to Malaysia, five to Kuwait, two to Oman, the Civil Aviation Minister was quoted as saying ANI.
Indian government’s initiative of sending flights to bring back Indians stranded abroad won’t stop on May 13. The central government will operate more repatriation flights after May 13, as per a PTI report. Commercial International flight services to India have been suspended till May 17. As many as 14,800 Indian nationals are stranded in the above-mentioned countries amidst coronavirus lockdown.
India has already deployed three Indian Navy warships to bring back Indian citizens stranded in Maldives and United Arab Emirates (UAE). These warships are INS Jallashwa, INS Magar and INS Shardul, Indian Navy officials were quoted as saying by ANI. India has kept ready a total of 14 warships for evacuating Indian citizens from the Gulf and other countries, the ANI report said.