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

At least 85 Indian nationals working and residing in Madagascar, have departed for India in a special chartered flight under the third phase of Vande Bharat's repatriation mission. Madagascar has been home to many Indians and about 2,500 Indian citizens reside in the small island nation located in the southern Indian Ocean close to East Africa.

The stranded Indians repatriated from Madagascar are mostly engaged in trading, manufacturing and other businesses. Indian ambassador Abhay Kumar went on-board of the special chartered aircraft along with Second Secretary Mani Agarwal and wished all the passengers a very safe journey back home to India.

READ | Over 1.07 lakh Indians returned to India after launch of Vande Bharat mission: MEA

Madagascar has about 1300 Coronavirus positive cases and has recorded 10 deaths so far however the COVID-19 pandemic situation seems to be under control. Madagascar is set to celebrate its 60th Independence Day this month on June 26 which would be a low key affair without any foreign participation because of the prevailing global pandemic.

READ | Vande Bharat mission tickets reasonable as compared to other countries: Aviation Minister

Vande Bharat Mission

Under the Vande Bharat Mission, Air India group started operating flights from May 7 to repatriate stranded Indians across the globe amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the beginning of the operation on May 7, Air India has operated a total of 423 inbound international flights under the Vande Bharat initiative, bringing many Indians back to the country.

The first phase of the mission saw the repatriation of Indians from over 11 countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Maldives, Singapore, and the US. In the second phase of the mission, the Indian government brought back Indians from around 31 countries from May 16. The second phase was to end on May 22, however, the Indian government extended it to June 13, while adding more countries to the list such as Finland, South Korea, Belgium, New Zealand, Netherlands, Kenya, Mauritius, Spain, Myanmar, Egypt, and Sri Lanka. The Indian government has begun the third phase of the Vande Bharat Mission, with Air India opening the bookings of seven destinations from June 5 onwards.

READ | Vande Bharat Mission: Air India to operate 10 additional flights between India and USA

READ | Vande Bharat Mission: Cancer patient in Singapore united with mother in Tiruchirappalli

(With inputs from ANI/ Image by ANI)