US cries foul over Air India's Vande Bharat evacuation; seeks operations for its airlines

The US on Tuesday, June 23, issued a statement against India's repatriation flights by Air India under the Vande Bharat Mission and accused that India had engaged in "discriminatory and restrictive" practices with respect to the US carrier services. The US Department of Transportation (DoT) in its statement further alleged that the Indian government has "imposed restrictions that prevent US air carriers from making full use of these charter rights".

The US further alleged that "the government has "prevented the US carriers from conducting India-US charter operations involving direct sales to individual passengers or through other distribution systems." As per the statement, the order will become effective in 30 days. Meanwhile, Washington, however, has not places any limitations on US–India charter operations. This development comes after it restricted China's airlines from flying into the US. 

Read: Vande Bharat: Special evacuation flight takes off from Qatar, over 5200 repatriated so far

The DoT statement: 

 Read: Vande Bharat Mission: 85 Indians return from Madagascar in special chartered flight

Read: Vande Bharat: Special evacuation flight takes off from Qatar, over 5200 repatriated so far

The Vande Bharat Mission 

In a major relief for Indians stranded abroad, the Centre had announced that their travel will be arranged via aircraft and naval ships in a phased manner. The Mission that started on May 7, was divided into phases, out of which, the third phase is currently on-going. While the first phase brought back around 15,000 Indians back home, the second phase brought back nearly 30,000 Indian nationals till May 29. The schedule for the third phase has 356 flights, including return services and domestic connections till July 1. 

The biggest repatriation process has covered several countries including UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Maldives, Singapore, Finland, South Korea, Belgium, New Zealand, Netherlands, Kenya, Mauritius, Spain, Myanmar, Maldives, Egypt, Sri Lanka, and so on. 

Read: GoAir operates maiden flight from Kuwait to Jaipur under Vande Bharat Mission