Navy ships set out to Maldives, UAE for evacuation

New Delhi, May 06: India has dispatched two navy ships to Maldives and two to UAE for evacuation of Indian citizens.

The Navy ships have been deployed as part of Operation Samudra Setu (Sea Bridge) to repatriate Indian citizens stranded abroad. Meanwhile, the first phase of the multi-agency operation called Vande Bharat Mission will see Air India operate 64 non-scheduled commercial flights from May 7 to 14 to bring back around 15,000 Indian nationals from 12 countries.

INS Jalashwa and INS Nagar are en route to the Maldives to commence the first phase of the operations, the Indian Navy has said. A total of 1,000 people will be evacuated in the first trip in naval ships. The evacuated people will disembark in Kochi, the Navy also said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said that priority will be given to compelling cases in distress, which would include migrant workers, labourers who have been laid off and those faced with expiry of short term visas.

"As per information available, many Indian Nationals who had travelled to different countries before the lockdown, on various purposes such as employment, studies/ internships, tourism, business, etc, are stranded abroad. Due to their prolonged stay abroad, they are facing distress and are desirous of returning to India urgently. Apart from the above cases, there are other Indian Nationals who need to visit India in medical emergencies or death of a family member," the MHA said.