Vande Bharat Mission: Stranded Indians in Japan arrive at Narita Airport

As the Vande Bharat Mission is in full swing, Indians stranded in Japan started arriving at Narita Airport on Monday. The passengers will board the Tokyo-Delhi repatriation flight as a part of phase II of the Vande Bharat Mission. The repatriation flight will carry 239 Indians from 22 Indian states. 

READ: Vande Bharat Mission: India Targets To Bring Back 100,000 Passengers By End Of Phase II

Indian ambassador interacts with passengers

Indian Ambassador to Japan Sanjay Kumar Verma interacted with the passengers waiting to board the flight and advised them about the safety norms. In addition, he also spoke to the flight crew. 

READ: MEA Lists Vande Bharat Mission, COVID Medical Supplies To 154 Countries Among Key Achievements

Verma also thanked the Ministry of External Affairs and the stakeholders for their assistance. The Indian ambassador also stated that more Indians will be evacuated in the coming days. 

"These passengers represent over 22 Indian states. I would like to thank the Ministry of External Affairs and all stake holders for facilitating their travel. There was a lot of anxiety among the Indian nationals who were stranded here. We are looking forwards to more flights"

Vande Bharat: 11 More Flights From US To India In Second Phase; Third Phase On Anvil

Relieved passengers interacting with embassy officials thanked the embassy and Indian officials for swift assistance. Here's what some of them stated: 

"The embassy has helped a lot and I'm happy to go home." said a passenger hailing from Srinagar, Kashmir. 

"I am thankful to the Indian Embassy and the Ministry of External Affairs for this flight." said an engineer.

India Targets To Bring Back 100,000 Passengers By End Of Phase II

Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that India targets to bring back 100,000 passengers from 60 countries by the end of Phase II of the Vande Bharat Mission and the planning for the third phase is well underway.

"Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) is in full swing. Phase I has been successfully completed from May 7 - May 16 during which 16,716 stranded Indians returned. We are in Phase II of VBM from May 17 - June 13," said MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava.

As of Thursday, 45,216 Indians have returned. These include 8,069 migrant workers, 7,656 students and 5,107 professionals.

"About 5000 Indians have returned through land border immigration checkpoints from Nepal and Bangladesh. A total number of 3,08,200 persons have registered their request with our Missions abroad for repatriation to India on compelling grounds," the spokesperson said.

READ: India To Expand Vande Bharat Mission To Evacuate More Indians From Abroad