NEW DELHI: The Indian government will begin from this week the evacuation of thousands of Indians stranded in US due to the coronavirus-linked global travel restrictions even as two special flights are set to operate on Thursday to bring back Indians stranded in the United Arab Emirates.
In a statement issued on Monday, the government said the evacuation process will begin from May 7 in a phased manner, adding that the Standard Operating Protocol has been made.
The facility will be available on a payment-basis, the statement said.
“Indian Embassies and High Commissions are preparing a list of distressed Indian citizens. The facility would be made available on a payment-basis. Non-scheduled commercial flights would be arranged for air travel. The travel would begin in a phased manner from May 7,” the statement said.
The government further said that the passengers would be quarantined for 14 days either at a hospital or an institution on a payment-basis after scrutiny by the state governments concerned.
“State governments are being advised to make arrangements, including for testing, quarantine, and onward movement of the returning Indians in their respective states,” the statement said.
Aarogya Setu app has also been made mandatory for the passengers, it added.
Earlier, the civil Aviation ministry had conveyed to the core group planning the evacuation operation that it is ready to make available majority of the nearly 650 commercial planes including freighters for the mission, sources said.
The sources had said that priority will be to evacuate the Indians from the Gulf nations following which the government will try to bring back those stranded in Europe and other parts of the globe.
They had said the Navy and the Indian Air Force have also been told to keep some of their platforms on standby for the evacuation which is likely to be the biggest after ‘Operation Raahat’ when India brought back over 6,700 people, including citizens from 41 countries, from strife-torn Yemen in 2015.
Three naval ships sent to UAE, Maldives
India has sent three naval ships to evacuate its citizens stranded in the Maldives and UAE due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a defence spokesperson said in the early hours on Tuesday.
INS Jalashwa deployed off Mumbai coast, along with INS Magar, diverted for Maldives on Monday night, he said.
While INS Shardul diverted to Dubai to evacuate the expatriates, the spokesperson added.
The three ships will return to Kochi, he said.
INS Magar and INS Shardul are Southern Naval Command ships, while INS Jalashwa is from Eastern Naval Command.
—PTI

Press Trust of India