Government will operate 64 flights to repatriate stranded Indians abroad. Addressing a digital press conference in New Delhi today, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said, the flights will be operated from Thursday till 13th of this month.

Mr Puri said, The 64 flights include, UAE 10 flights, Qatar - 2, Saudi Arabia - 5, UK - 7, Singapore - 5, United States - 7, Philippines - 5, Bangladesh - 7, Bahrain - 2, Malaysia - 7, Kuwait - 5 and Oman 2 flights .

Out of the total, 15 flights will bring back people to Kerala followed by eleven flights to Tamil Nadu and Delhi.

Seven flights will be flying back people to Maharashtra and Telangana whereas five flights are slated for Gujarat.

Maximum number of flights in the first week of repatriation will bring back citizens from the Gulf countries.

Meanwhile, Navy has confirmed that 3 of its ship are on the mission to get back stranded citizens from Maldives and UAE.

INS Jalashwa and INS Magar will get back Indians from the Maldives while INS Shardul has been diverted to Dubai to get back the expatriates from the West Asian countries.

Government has prepared a detailed roadmap to repatriate over 14 thousand 800 stranded Indian citizens from abroad in light of the Corona Virus Pandemic.

Government has clarified that only asymptomatic passengers would be allowed to travel and strict adherence to the Standard Operating Protocol (SOP) for the complete process has to be followed by the carriers.

State Governments have been advised to make arrangements, including for testing, quarantine and onward movement of the citizens upon their return.

India is launching a huge evacuation exercise in the wake of COVID 19 to bring back thousands of Indians stranded abroad. Government sources said over three lakh people have registered in Gulf countries alone. The immediate focus will be to bring back Indians from the Gulf, countries in neighbourhood as well as from US, UK and Singapore.

Sources also said External Affairs Ministry will share detailed database with states and central ministries for the possible employment of skilled workers as thousands of Indians are returning after losing jobs. They said only those having compelling reasons to return home like medical emergency, and expiry of visas will be brought back. Only Indian nationals will be brought back and not OCI card holders.

External Affairs Ministry is coordinating with the states and Indian missions abroad for smooth implementation of the operation. It has deputed a number of additional secretaries and joint secretaries to coordinate with the states.