Question : Indians Repatriated under Vande Bharat

(a) the number of passengers who were repatriated to India under the Vande Bharat Mission from various countries;

(b) whether India was approached by other countries for evacuation of their respective nationals from other countries;

(c) if so, the details thereof;

(d) the details of countries which were provided COVID-19 related help by India;

(e) the details of assistance provided by India and the expenditure incurred in such assistances; and

(f) whether India received any kind of COVID-19 related assistance from other countries till now and if so, the details thereof?

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRYOF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
[SHRI V. MURALEEDHARAN]

(a) As on 11 September 2020, more than 13,85,670 Indians have returned to India under the Vande Bharat Mission from various countries.

(b) & (c) At the request of foreign governments, the Ministry of External Affairs facilitated the evacuation of their nationals via land border from neighbourhood countries including Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar to India for boarding repatriation flights back to their country. In all, India assisted in the repatriation of more than 1,10,000 nationals from over 120 countries who were stranded in India during the lockdown period.

(d) & (e) India provided medical assistance in the form of medicines and medical equipment to over 150 countries, including grants-in-aid valued at around Rupees 80 crore to 79 countries. A list of these countries is attached at Annexure I. The Ministry of External Affairs assisted foreign governments with approvals for the export of essential medicines in the fight against COVID-19. In addition, in response to requests, India sent Rapid Response Medical teams to help countries in their fight against the pandemic.

(f) India received assistance from a few countries, including Japan, USA, France, Germany and Israel in the form of medical equipment and grants-in-aid.

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