The fifth phase of the Government of India's Vande Bharat Mission is set to begin from August 1 according to a statement by national carrier Air India. The largest repatriation mission, aimed at evacuating Indian nationals stranded in various foreign countries owing to COVID-19 related restrictions on travel, has already taken home a large number of Indian citizens from across the globe.
"Under the Vande Bharat Mission, we have already brought back more than 2.5 lakh stranded Indians from 53 countries," Air India said in a statement. "We will be soon announcing a host of additional flights under Vande Bharat Mission Phase 5 starting from 1st August 2020."
Phase 5 will see flights being sent to the US, Canada, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Australia, Germany, Thailand, Singapore, UK, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, New Zealand, Philippines and several other countries.
According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs over 7.88 lakh Indians stranded abroad due to the coronavirus pandemic have returned under the Vande Bharat Mission as of July 22.