Vande Bharat for all, says MEA after Bengal accuses Centre of discriminating between states

After a minister in the West Bengal Government triggered a huge row by accusing the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of discriminating against West Bengal and not organising any repatriation flights of Indian nationals from abroad to the State in the Vande Bharat Mission, MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava tweeted late on Thursday night that the “MEA does not discriminate between states” and that the “Vande Bharat Mission is for all stranded Indians, including those from West Bengal”.

The government launched the Vande Bharat mission on May 7 to bring back Indians stranded in various countries due to coronavirus-related restrictions.

"The MEA does not discriminate between states. GOI's Vande Bharat Mission is for all stranded Indians, including those from West Bengal. Over 3,700 of them have registered for repatriation from different parts of the world @MoCA_GoI @HomeSecretaryWB," Srivastava said in a tweet, tagging the post of Chatterjee.

Chatterjee had tweeted, "Is the MEA asking us to believe that there are enough people to come from Georgia to Gujarat but none want to come to Kolkata? Also, there are enough people to come back to Bihar from Kyrgyzstan but not enough to bring back to Bengal? Stop this injustice !!! #MithyebadiBJP".

Srivastava also said that the Centre will facilitate flights to Kolkata if the state government will confirm arrangements to receive and quarantine.

(With inputs from Agencies)