Vande Bharat Mission: INS Shardul arrives reaches Gujarat with 233 Indians from Iran

As a part of Vande Bharat Mission, Indian Naval Ship Shardu reached Porbandar in Gujarat on Thursday, June 11. As per reports, the ship brought back 233 Indian nationals from Bandar Abbas in Iran. INS Shardul’s mission falls under 'Operation Samudra Setu' which is a larger part of the Vande Bharat Mission to bring back Indian citizens stranded abroad amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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All COVID-19 procedures followed

According to reports, the Indian Navy has stated that all COVID-19 related social distancing norms were strictly adhered to on the ship. INS Shardul has also been specially provisioned for evacuation operation including embarkation of additional medical staff, doctors, hygienists and nutritionists besides ration, personal protective equipment, face masks and other lifesaving gear.

As per reports, after docking at Porbandar, the 233 Indian nationals were entrusted to the state authorities that will further carry out the necessary procedures. Operation Samudra Setu was launched on May 8 at the height of the coronavirus crisis in an effort to repatriate Indian citizens. Other vessels also part of this operation, INS Jalashwa and INS Magar, have already evacuated close to 3,00 people from the Maldives and Sri Lanka to ports of Kochi and Tuticorin.

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Almost 2 lakh people returned under the banner of VBM

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava on Thursday, 11 June stated that the Vande Bharat Mission has repatriated a total of 1,65,375 people back to India thus far. Srivastava added that 29,034 migrant workers were also returned. The number of people repatriated will only rise in the months of June.

During an online press briefing, Anurag Srivastava said "Apart from Air India flights, repatriation has also been arranged through other streams like Indian naval vessels which have brought back our nationals from Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Iran through foreign carriers coming to India to pick up nationals from other countries, through chartered flights and from land borders. As part of the Vande Bharat Mission, the INS Shardul has returned to Gujarat from Iran carrying 233 stranded Indian nationals”.

(Input/Image Credit ANI)

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