The Indian government's massive repatriation effort, the Vande Bharat Mission, is in full swing. Over 45,000 stranded Indians have been brought home from across the globe so far and now the government has decided to extend Phase 2 of this mission till June 13 (this phase was originally from May 17-22).
Launched on May 7, the Vande Bharat Mission is hoping to evacuate another 1,00,000 Indians by June 13, said the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava on Thursday.
He said that as of Thursday afternoon, a total of 45,216 Indians had been brought back, which includes 8,069 migrant workers, 7,656 students and 5,107 professionals.
Also read: Vande Bharat Mission: The Road Home
About 5,000 Indians have returned through the land border from Nepal and Bangladesh.
The MEA spokesperson also said that the government is helping stranded Indians return from remote locations in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and parts of Europe.
In Pics: Returning on the repatriation flight from Newark to New Delhi
He said that a total of 3,08,200 people have registered requests to return with Indian missions abroad on compelling grounds.
"During the phase two, a total of 429 Air India flights (311 international flights + 118 feeder flights) from 60 countries are scheduled to land in India. The Indian Navy will be making four more sorties to bring back returnees from Iran, Sri Lanka and the Maldives," Srivastava said.
