Special flight reaches Colombo airport to evacuate stranded Indians

A sense of excitement filled the BIA Colombo Airport as a special flight under Vande Bharat Mission reached Sri Lanka to repatriate the stranded Indian nationals.

"A happy bustling morning in Sri Lanka! Excited passengers start arriving at BIA Colombo airport for the special @airindiain AI 1202 flight for repatriation of stranded Indian nationals from Sri Lanka under the third phase of Vande Bharat Mission @MEAIndia," High Commission of India in Colombo said in a tweet.

High Commissioner Gopal Baglay came to meet the Indian nationals at the airport and wished them safe travel before they boarded the flight.

The Vande Bharat Mission is a Government of India's initiative to bring back 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 the 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 )