Over 814,000 stranded Indians have returned through Vande Bharat Mission: Puri

Of these over 814,000 people, at least 270,000 Indians returned on flights from 53 countries, said Puri.

Puri said on Twitter that Phase 5 of Vande Bharat Mission will begin from 1 August to bring back more stranded Indians.

Phase 5 will connect India with USA, Canada, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Singapore, UK, Frankfurt, Paris, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, New Zealand , Philippines and more, said Puri.

"Like we did earlier, more destinations and flights will be added as this phase progresses," tweeted Puri.

He further said that details about ticket bookings will be shared very soon.

"Details about ticket bookings will be shared by @airindiain @FlyWithIX & other airlines shortly. It is our earnest effort to reach out to every stranded & distressed Indian & facilitate their evacuation & outbound travel. I request you to kindly exercise patience & bear with us," tweeted Puri.

As of 23 July, in the fourth phase of Vande Bharat Mission, 1,197 flights were scheduled, including 945 international flights and 252 feeder flights.

These flights were operated by Air India group, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir and they covered 29 countries.

The MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said during a briefing last Thursday that some 1,03,976 Indians have returned from Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh through land borders.