Two chartered flights arranged by the Indian government will fly out around 400 of its nationals from Bahrain in the coming days.
The first flight from Manama is tentatively scheduled to land in Kerala on Friday with around 200 people, while the second flight, also to Kerala, is charted for next Monday.
This is based on India’s phased international repatriation process amid Covid-19 which is scheduled to commence from tomorrow, according to statements by the Indian Home Ministry and the Indian External Affairs Ministry.
However, the Indian Embassy in Bahrain told the GDN that they have not received official confirmation of the dates of the flights.
“The embassy has no official communication from the Indian government on the dates of the flights,” said Indian Embassy charge d’affaires Norbu Negi.
“Since a phased repatriation has been announced to commence from May 7, it is presumed that the first flight from Bahrain will be on May 8, which is the second day.
“However, this has not been officially intimated.”
The one-week plan released by the External Affairs Ministry on Monday, which was also endorsed by India’s Civil Aviation Department, shows 64 flights scheduled to fly out 14,800 Indians from the Gulf countries, Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh, Philippines, the UK and the US to 10 Indian states.
The GDN reported yesterday that more than 16,000 Indians living in Bahrain have registered to return home amidst the crisis.
“We have a list being updated regularly which is an ongoing process,” explained Mr Negi.
“As soon as the government informs us of the schedule, we will put up the list to travel, the priority will be as per government directives.”
The GDN reported last week that three Indian Navy warships were also being readied to possibly repatriate Indians from across the globe.
