Over one lakh Indians have returned home from Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh by land borders as part of the central government’s ‘Vande Bharat’ Mission operationalised to evacuate stranded citizens from foreign countries amid the coronavirus-infused lockdown, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.
“As of July 15, 6,87,467 Indian nationals have returned to India; 1,01,014 nationals have returned from Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh by land borders,” MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said in a weekly briefing.
On Monday, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri assured that the government is making all efforts to facilitate the evacuation of citizens who are stranded abroad and those who want to fly out.
He said that over 80,000 people have also flown out since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
