Operation Samudra Setu: INS Jalashwa set to evacuate stranded Indians from Maldives

Indian ambassador to UAE Pavan Kapoor said today that the process of repatriation of overseas Indians will be beginning amid the coronavirus crisis.

Also Read: Vande Bharat: India kicks off biggest repatriation mission amid COVID-19 crisis

UAE has the largest diaspora of Indians, the ambassador said.

The evacuation process to repatriate Indians in Maldives will commence from Friday with INS Jalashwa carrying 750 citizens to Kochi in Kerala as part of the first phase of the operation called "Samudra Setu".

"Evacuation operation will be conducted in two phases - first to Kochi in Kerala and second to Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu. It will be a big relief for Indians," Indian envoy to Maldives Sunjay Sudhir said.

"For Maldives, we will witness evacuation operation in next few days, the largest ever evacuation in our history," the Indian envoy to Maldives added.

India's ministry of defence said that evacuees will undergo mandatory quarantine as per SOPs in the quarantine facilities run by Army, Navy and Air Force in Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

"Armed Forces have kept in readiness six quarantine facilities that can accommodate up to 2,100 Indians being evacuated from several countries," the ministry of defence said.

The defence ministry said that it had dispatched Naval ships with medical teams and aid supplies to several countries in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) in an effort to bring back the stranded Indians.

(With ANI inputs)