Coronavirus: Around 9,000 Foreign Nationals to Be Repatriated From India

Foreign nationals from Germany, Russia, Poland, Israel and several other countries have sought to be repatriated; several evacuations have already taken place.

New Delhi: Around 9,000 foreign nationals have sought to be evacuated from India as foreign missions having started to repatriate their citizens with Indiaโ€™s lockdown to combat coronavirus snapping all transport links to the outside world.

India stopped all international commercial traffic on March 22 and domestic flights two days later. On March 25, India went into a three-week national lockdown to combat the spread of the pandemic.

On Thursday, the total number of confirmed cases in India stands at 649, out of which 593 are active cases. There have been 14 reported deaths so far.

More than 500 stranded travellers took off for Frankfurt in a special flight by Lufthansa organised by the German embassy on early Thursday morning. The passengers included not just German nationals, but also citizens from Sweden and Latvia.

Earlier, the German foreign office tweeted photographs of passengers enjoying the gardens of the embassy, where they waited for the departure. They were brought to Delhi from various parts of the country, through specially hired buses and taxis since no transport services are operating in India. Another special flight is also scheduled to leave India on Thursday night.

The Germans are not the only ones who are organising special flights for their citizens. According to sources, the Indian government has got a list of 9,000 foreign nationals that has been compiled and forwarded by foreign missions. โ€œThis number changes and increases daily. Yesterday, it was 8,000, today it rose to 9,000,โ€ said an official.

Poland had already operated an evacuation flight last week before the lockdown. Most of the requests have come from European countries, Russia and Belarus. From Asia, Malaysia has also asked permission to get its citizens back. The United States has not yet confirmed any repatriation flight so far.

At this time, one of the primary functions of Ministry of External Affairโ€™s COVID-19 coordination unit has been to coordinate the repatriations flights and the transport of the nationals to the international airport.

Russiaโ€™s Aeroflot returned to Moscow on Wednesday with 388 passengers. They were brought into Delhi to catch the flight from other states including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Maharashtra.

The Russian embassy spokesperson added that another flight also took off from Dabolim with 126 Russians on Thursday. The special charter flight was arranged by a Russian tour operator.

โ€œCurrently, there are several thousand Russian nationals in India. Many informed our mission about their whereabouts, indicating willingness to return home,โ€ he said.

Also read: For Neighbours, Indiaโ€™s Lockdown Means Need to Reassure Anxious Public Over Supplies

Just like many other missions, the Russian embassy was operating a 24/7 call centre and a web page to support their citizens during this period, said the spokesperson.

To ensure that the foreign nationals are not stopped or harassed while they are travelling to the airport or pick-up points, the Ministry of External Affairs has written to various state chief secretaries and officials. The foreign missions also wrote letters to local authorities.

The Russian mission also advised its citizens to carry a copy of the note verbale that was sent to the MEA about the operation of the special evacuation flight.

Israel has been organising several flights to repatriate hundreds of its citizens not just from Delhi, but also from Mumbai and Goa.

While most of the foreign governments are using their own airlines, some flights are being operated on a lease basis by Air India (for Israel) and SpiceJet (for Belarus). โ€œIt is easier and faster to lease an Indian plane, rather than getting their own plane and crew whose stay and transport in Delhi would also need to be arranged. If they come with a back-up crew, then the first crew would take up precious space on the return flight, which is usually avoidable,โ€ said an Indian official.