Air India flight departs with 147 stranded Indians from Benin, Chad

A special Air India flight under the Vande Bharat Mission departed with 147 stranded Indian nationals from Benin and Chad.

"Immensely happy to assist the return of 126 needy Indian nationals from Benin and 21 from Chad, on a special Cotonou-N'Djamena-Istanbul-Delhi charter flight today. Timely clearances from multiple agencies and community support were key," India in Nigeria (as well as Benin, Chad and ECOWAS) said in a tweet.

Vande Bharat mission is the Government of India's initiative to bring home Indian nationals stranded in various parts of the world due to restrictions over air travel to contain COVID-19 spread.

A total of 1,65,375 people have returned, including 29,034 migrant workers under Vande Bharat Mission, said Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava on Thursday.

The exercise began on May 7 and its second phase started on May 16. The third phase began on June 11 and will continue till June 30.

( With inputs from ANI )