Over 30,000 rescued under Vande Bharat Mission till May 25: Hardeep Puri

India has evacuated over 30,000 stranded Indians on 158 flights from different countries under Vande Bharat Mission till Monday, said Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

The minister announced that another 49,000 people will be repatriated till mid-June.

"Mission Vande Bharat flies high. Till May 25, more than 30,000 people have returned to India on 158 flights from different countries and more than 10,000 people have flown out of India on 164 flights. Another 49,000 people will be able to fly until mid-June 2020," Puri tweeted on Tuesday.

India had launched the largest evacuation exercise to repatriate Indians stranded abroad due to coronavirus-induced lockdown. The exercise began on May 7 and its second phase started on May 16.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) recently announced that the second phase of the mission has been extended to June 13.

On Tuesday, 3,393 Indians returned on 19 flights from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain, Manila, Cebu, Vancouver, Tel Aviv, Singapore, Birmingham, New York, Moscow, Karaganda, Bishkek and Minsk.