UK mission in India asks its citizens to send details for evacuation amid COVID19 lockdown

The United Kingdom's mission on Tuesday asked its nationals stranded in India amid coronavirus lockdown to send their details as London announced a worldwide flight package to evacuate British people from different countries.

In a video message on Twitter, acting UK High Commission to India, Jan Thompson, asked British nationals to ensure that they are ready with their passports and travel documents ready for departure. She said that the timings and departure locations of the flights from India will be announced in the coming days.

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"British Government has announced a worldwide partnership between the UK Government and airlines to repatriate British Nationals stranded due to the unprecedented international travel and domestic restrictions in place as a result of coronavirus pandemic. If you like to return to the UK and have not already contacted us via the email address Conqry.Newdelhi@fco.gov.uk" she said.

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Coronavirus pandemic

India had imposed a 21-day nationwide lockdown on March 24 in a bid to combat the spread of coronavirus. It also banned all international passenger flight operations till March 14. On Saturday, British foreign minister Dominic Raab held talks with Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and discussed joint efforts to bring people back home.

The Union Health Ministry said the death toll due to COVID-19 has risen to 32 and the number of total coronavirus cases to 1,251 as on Monday. There are 1117 active cases in the country with the state of Kerala contributing the highest number of cases which stands at 202. The UK has been heavily hit by the pandemic, with even Prime Minister Boris Johnson testing positive, following Prince Charles' suit. 

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(with ANI inputs)