Three Indian Naval ships have been sent to Maldives and UAE to rescue Indian nationals who are stranded and wanting to return home.
INS Jalashwa and INS Magar left Mumbai for Maldives on Monday night, according to the Indian Navy. They will return to Kochi.
Similarly, INS Shardul left for Dubai and will also return to Kochi.
To facilitate the return of Indian nationals stranded abroad in a phased manner, the Indian government will be operating aircraft and naval ships from May 7. A Standard Operating Protocol (SOP) has been prepared to conduct this exercise.
Indian Embassies and High Commissions abroad are preparing a list of distressed Indian citizens. “This facility would be made available on payment-basis. Non-scheduled commercial flights would be arranged for air travel. The travel would begin in a phased manner from May 7,” the government, in a statement said.
Medical screening of passengers would be done before stranded people take the flight back home.
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“Only asymptomatic passengers would be allowed to travel. During the journey, all these passengers would have to follow the protocols, such as the Health Protocols, issued by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Civil Aviation,” the government said.
On reaching the destination, everyone would have to register on the Arogya Setu app. “Everyone would be medically screened. After scrutiny, they would be quarantined for 14 days, either in a hospital or in an institutional quarantine on payment-basis, by the concerned State government. COVID test would be done after 14 days and further action would be taken according to health protocols,” the government added.
State Governments are being advised to make arrangements, including for testing, quarantine and onward movement of the returning Indians in their respective states.