With the strict restrictions because of the Covid-19 outbreak, several Indian stranded abroad have pled to the Indian government to bring them back to India. Hearing their plea and constant requests, the Indian government is devising a mega plan to rescue every stranded Indian nation from across the globe.
The government is planning to deploy raft or naval ships along with military and commercial aircraft to evacuate the thousands of Indians who are stranded across the globe. The same is going to come into effect once the lockdown ends in the country.
Aside from that, the government has already reached out to multiple states to make some of the necessary arrangements for isolation and quarantine when they are brought back to the country. The same is going to take place under a multi-agency operation.
The Civil Aviation Ministry has also made it known to the teams in operation for these projects that they are going to make over 650 million of the commercial aircrafts available for the mission.
The Navy and the Air Force have also been advised to keep some of their platforms on standby for the evacuation in case it is needed. This is expected to be the biggest following “Operation Raahat” where the government brought back over 6,700 Indians along with citizens from 41 countries in 2015.
Navy has suggested the used of INS Jalashwa, an ambitious ship along with two other landing ship tanks for this operation.
The INS Jalashwa is capable of accommodating over 1000 people and is amphibious operations and has been part of both rescue and search missions.
Aside from that, few sources have reported that the Indian Air Force is also keeping a number of its transport aircraft ready for the operation, whenever it happens.
The operation will officially begin once the lockdown has been lifted. The current Lockdown 2.0 is going to be till May 03, following which there is no concrete news as to when or how the lockdown will be lifted by the government.
The sources have reported that the Indian government is going to prioritize getting the Indians out of the Gulf countries first following which the same is going to be done in Europe and then with other parts of the world.
It has not been clarified yet on how many Indians are going to be brought back by the government. The numbers have not been suggested yet.
Over 8 million people reside in the Gulf countries and the Indians stranded there have been in a constant state of panic surrounding the situation.
In the video conference held by PM Narendra Modi with the remaining chief ministers, it has been clarified that the evacuation process should not affect the health of the families in India and put them under risks.
PM Modi has also been in talks with the leaders from some of the Gulf Nations including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss about the situation surrounding Covid-19.
He has consistently emphasised on looking after the well being of the Indian diaspora in the other nations.
