Published 23:27 IST, July 6th 2020
India allows 82 Pakistanis stranded due to COVID lockdown to travel home via Wagah border
India on Monday, accepted Pakistan's request for the repatriation of 82 Pakistani nationals who are stranded in India due to COVID-19 lockdown in both nations
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After Pakistan allowed repatriation of 748 stranded Indians due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, India on Monday, accepted Pakistan's request for the repatriation of 82 Pakistani nationals who are stranded in India due to COVID-19 crisis. The Pakistani citizens are stuck in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. MEA has instructed DGs of all concerned states to facilitate their travel to Attari so that they can cross to Pakistan via Wagah Border on July 9.
India repatriates 82 stranded Pakistanis
Pakistan repatriates 748 Indians
On June 19, Pakistan government issued an order allowing repatriation of 748 Indians stranded in Pakistan due to COVID-19 lockdown, allowing them to pass to India via the Wagah border on June 25,26 and 27. The order stated that the Indians will be sent in three batches with the first two comprising of 250 individuals each, while the last batch comprising of 248 individuals. While most of the listed Indians have crossed over to India, Pakistan stated that 114 Indian nationals stranded in Pakistan will cross the Attari-Wagah border on 9th July.
India's Vande Bharat
On May 7, the Centre launched the Vande Bharat mission to bring back Indians stranded abroad amid Coronavirus global lockdown via aircraft and naval ships in a phased manner. Till date, around 5,03,990 stranded Indians from 137 countries Indians have returned to India from abroad via Vande Bharat, as per MEA As per the release, Kerala welcomed the largest number of Indians (94,085), followed by Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh. The largest number of stranded Indians who returned under Vande Bharat Mission are from UAE (57,305), followed by Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and USA.
The Vande Bharat mission undertook 860 Air India flights; 1,256 charter flights and eight naval ships. The number of stranded Indians returned by Air India were 1,64,121; the Indian Navy evacuated 3,987 in 8 ships from Maldives, Iran and Colombo. Chartered flights transported 2,30,832 passengers and foreign carriers evacuated 3,969; and about 60 air ambulances were operated under the mission. Regular International flights have been cancelled till July 30 with the Centre considering opening flights on case to case basis.
23:27 IST, July 6th 2020