NEW DELHI, Sept. 18 — India evacuated 11,464 of its citizens from Malaysia between May and August under a travel scheme launched to help those in distress during the coronavirus pandemic.
They were among the hundreds of thousands of Indians evacuated from abroad on flights operated by Indian carriers and chartered services of both Indian and foreign airlines.
A total of 5,817 flights to India were operated to repatriate Indian nationals until the end of August under the Vande Bharat mission launched in May, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told parliament.
The returnees are mostly non-resident Indians (NRIs) and a large number of them came back from Gulf Arab countries, the United States and Europe due to economic disruptions caused by the pandemic.
According to flight details tweeted by the minister, about 1,300 more Indian nationals have returned from Malaysia in September.
