With the third phase of lockdown begins, India has set to bring its citizens back home in a phased manner those stranded abroad. According to report, India has sent three naval ships in the early hours on Tuesday to evacuate its citizens stranded in the Maldives and UAE due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a defence spokesperson, INS Jalashwa deployed off Mumbai coast, along with INS Magar, diverted for Maldives on Monday night.
Also, INS Shardul diverted to Dubai to evacuate the expatriates, the spokesperson added.
All these three ships will return to Kochi, he said.
While INS Magar and INS Shardul are Southern Naval Command ships, INS Jalashwa is from Eastern Naval Command.
Total 14 warships have been readied for evacuating Indian citizens from Gulf and other countries”, said an Indian Navy officials.
According to a statement by the Home Ministry, ‘Indian Embassies and High Commissions are preparing a list of distressed Indian citizens and the facility would be made available on payment basis.’
The statement also specified, “Non-scheduled commercial flights would be arranged for air travel and the travel would begin in a phased manner from May 7. Medical screening of the passengers would be done before they board the flight and only the asymptomatic passengers would be allowed to travel.”
During the journey, all these passengers would have to follow the protocols, such as the health guidelines issued by the Health Ministry and the Civil Aviation Ministry.
