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More than 900 Iranians have been evacuated so far, with the latest batch of 190 flying back on Friday night. About 5,000 British nationals are expected to be evacuated in 21 flights till Sunday, and another 17 flights will be operating next week.
And, about 2,200 French nationals have also been evacuated over the past few weeks.
While Iran, UK, and France have been hit hard by the COVID-19, the foreign governments have made arrangements to fly them back to their home country.
According to Indian government sources, about 35,000 foreign nationals from 53 countries have been evacuated till Thursday (April 16). In contrast, while over 3,336 Indian nationals have been infected and 25 have died of COVID-19, the Indian government has advised Indians stranded overseas to stay put wherever they are.
Iranian envoy to India, Ali Chegeni tweeted on Saturday, “Thanks to my hard- working colleagues and kind cooperation of Indian Government, especially PAI Division of MEA & Covid Cell , a big group of Iranians who were stranded in India, flew to home last night from Mumbai by an Iran Air Flight.” So far, 949 Iranians have been evacuated from India.
More than 2,200 travellers from France have been able to return home since international flights were suspended, thanks to “excellent cooperation” from Indian authorities, according to the French envoy in India.
Chartered buses brought travellers spread out across India to departure points like Mumbai and Bengaluru, said French ambassador Emmanuel Lenain.
Cooperation from Indian officials helped France organise their travel home “within a few weeks”, he said.
In a phone conversation on March 31, French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Narendra Modi “fixed areas of collaboration, discussed best practices, shared the latest information — particularly on research on a vaccine — and coordinated their international initiatives”, Ambassador Lenain said.
Macron confirmed that France would “grant exceptional financial aid for protecting the most vulnerable people in India”, he said.
French and Indian authorities have worked together since the beginning of the pandemic, Lenain said.
“It’s during tough times that the full significance our partnership comes to the fore.”
The British High Commission in India announced that 17 more charter flights from India, with a total capacity of around 4000 passengers, will bring home many more British nationals in India who have been waiting for flights.
It gave out details of flights — from Ahmedabad to London on 20, 22, 24, 26 April; Amritsar to London on 21, 23, 25 and 27 April; Bangalore (via Ahmedabad) to London on 23 April; Delhi to London on 21, 23, 25 and 27 April; from Goa to London on 20, 22 and 24 April; and from Mumbai to London on 26 April.
People who are most vulnerable will be prioritised for seats on these flights which will bring the total number of chartered flights run by the UK Government from India to 38.
Given the number of people who have already registered for a flight, the majority of seats are likely to be allocated to people who are already on waitlists, having registered via the CTM website.
Jan Thompson, Acting High Commissioner to India, said: “There will be 17 more charter flights next week to take British travellers back to the UK – on top of the 21 flights announced previously. We are working around the clock to arrange additional flights from locations where we know large numbers are still stranded and are extremely grateful for the support we are receiving from the Government of India and local authorities.”
The 21 UK Government charter flights that were announced previously are operating from 8-20 April and are expected to help over 5,000 British nationals return home.
