Kochi: The last flight to Kerala in the phase I of the Vande Bharat mission, landed at Cochin International Airport in Nedumbassery at 10.01pm on Thursday from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The Air India flight (AI 964), carrying 149 passengers, includes 37 pregnant woman, 31 people with medical emergencies, 40 laid-off workers and 36 others who were in Saudi Arabia on visit visas.
On its departure from Jeddah, the Indian Consulate thanked Saudi Government and authorities for facilitating the return of Indian nationals back home.
"Indian nationals also expressed their gratitude to Government of India and Saudi authorities," it said in a statement.
The first repatriation flight from Jeddah, carrying 151 passengers, arrived in Kerala on Wednesday.
The government launched the 'Vande Bharat Mission' on May 7 to evacuate Indians stranded in various countries due to coronavirus-related restrictions. Under the phase one of the mission, the government has evacuated a total of 12,000 Indians from the Gulf region as well as countries like the US, the UK, Philipines, Bangladesh, Malaysia and the Maldives.
In the first phase, the government has evacuated around 15,000 people from 12 countries in 64 flights.
Phase II to begin on May 16
In phase II of Centre's mega evacuation mission, the government plans to bring back around 32,000 Indians from 21 countries between May 16 and 22.
"An additional 18 countries to be covered under the second phase, which include Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Ireland, Canada, Japan, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Georgia, Tajikistan and Armenia," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.
"As you can see, we are broadening the ambit every week in a phased manner keeping with our quarantine capacity, health protocols, etc. Till now 1,88,646 Indian nationals have registered to return on the portal," he added.
As per the government's policy for evacuation, Indians having "compelling reasons" to return like pregnant women, elderly people, students and those facing the prospect of deportation are being brought back home.
"The Vande Bharat Mission is the largest and most complex exercise ever undertaken by the government for the repatriation of our nationals stranded overseas," Srivastava said.
He said a total of 904 Indians were repatriated from the Maldives by Indian Navy ships Jalashwa and Magar on May 10 and May 12 respectively.
