E-Paper
US, UK to begin evacuating stranded nationals from India
The UK government has said it will provide £75 million for special charter flights, where commercial routes do not exist, to bring home thousands of Britons stranded in different countries.
The UK and the US are set to join a list of countries that have been evacuating their stranded nationals from India, with the Boris Johnson government on Sunday announcing the first wave of seven charter flights for some 20,000 Britons in different states.
The UK government has said it will provide £75 million for special charter flights, where commercial routes do not exist, to bring home thousands of Britons stranded in different countries. The flights from India will depart from Goa on April 8, 10 and 12, from Mumbai on April 9 and 11, and from New Delhi on April 9 and 11.
The flights cost each adult £681 from Goa, £600 from Mumbai and £581 from Delhi, and infants under the age of two will travel free.
The UK’s acting high commissioner to India, Jan Thompson, said: “We know how worrying the past few weeks have been for British nationals in India. I hope this announcement will bring relief, especially to those in greatest need.
“Due to the large numbers of British travellers involved, the scale of this operation is huge. The UK government continues to work hard with our Indian counterparts in New Delhi and London to arrange a safe journey back for as many people as possible.”
Officials said the charter flights are for British travellers who normally reside in the UK and their direct dependants. A number of seats will be reserved for those deemed vulnerable. On Saturday, 113 of the most vulnerable British nationals left Goa on an Irish flight.
An estimated 35,000 British nationals are currently in India but only some 20,000 have expressed a desire to return.
The US, which flew out some 200 citizens from India on March 31, is set to operate a steady flow of flights from Delhi and Mumbai this week. People familiar with developments said several thousand Americans, most of them stranded tourists and travellers, will be evacuated by these flights.
The US embassy announced on Sunday there will be flights from New Delhi to San Francisco (April 6, 7 and 8) and from Mumbai to Atlanta (April 7 and 10).
“We do not know for how long US government-organised flights returning to the United States will continue after this week. We urge US citizens who want to return to the United States to take advantage of the current opportunities,” the embassy said in an alert posted on its website.
The embassy said it will also facilitate transportation to Delhi from some cities in northern and eastern India, including flights from Dehradun, Amritsar and Chandigarh, and bus services from Ludhiana and Dharamshala. It will also arrange flights from Chennai and Hyderabad to Mumbai.
A total of 22 countries evacuated almost 14,000 people from India till late last week, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity.
Germany has flown out some 3,000 citizens in about 10 flights from different Indian cities, Japan about 2,300 in some 10 flights, Malaysia about 2,100 citizens in 13 flights, Israel about 1,600 citizens in eight flights, and Russia almost 1,100 citizens in four flights.
France, which has so far evacuated 400 nationals in one flights, has plans to evacuate almost 1,600 more stranded tourists and travellers.
Special arrangements have also been made by the countries to arrange “movement permits” in view of domestic travel restrictions currently in force across India. These permits call on Indian authorities to allow passage, without delay or detention, to the foreign nationals.
The people cited above said there are currently no plans to arrange flights to bring back Indians stranded abroad. The government recently advised stranded Indians to “stay put” and Indian missions have been tasked to help them.
