The High Commission of India in the Maldives has revealed an additional 152 Indians have been repatriated from the Maldives via an evacuation flight of Air India.
The Indian government has been organising evacuation flights and vessels to repatriate Indians stranded in the Maldives amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The evacuation flight operated on May 22 was the first air-evacuation of Indians stranded in the Maldives, and carried 152 individuals from Male’ to Bangalore.
High Commissioner of India in the Maldives Sanjay Sudhir revealed another flight is set to operate from Male’ to New Delhi on May 23, carrying another 150 Indians. He also revealed more flights will be operated to Chennai and Mumbai in the coming days.
The evacuation flights are operated under Phase 2 of the evacuation programme initiated by the Indian government. Phase 1 of the evacuation programme saw 1,488 Indians repatriated via Indian naval ships travelling from Male’ to Cochin, India.
The Indian high commission stated approximately 27,000 Indian nationals reside in the Maldives. The COVID-19 cases reported in the Maldives includes 119 Indians.