The process to repatriate Indians has been going smoothly due to the higher frequency and chartered flights under the ‘Vande Bharat’ Mission

India has so far repatriated around 11,000 people from Australia under its repatriation mission during COVID-19, the ‘Vande Bharat’ Mission. In an interview with DNA, India’s Consul General in Sidney Manish Gupta said that out of these 11,000, about 4,500 have been repatriated from Sydney alone.

In the interview, he said that the process to repatriate Indians has been going smoothly due to the higher frequency and chartered flights under the Vande Bharat Mission.

“These are very challenging times, everywhere in the world including here in Australia. Thanks to ‘Vande Bharat’ Mission, we have been able to set up a structured framework for repatriation of stranded Indians during the last 3 months,” Gupta told DNA. He said that the situation is more under control now and there are very few cases left.

The Consul General also highlighted the relationship between India and Australia. He said that the ties between the two nations have always been nice and have grown better since the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison held a virtual summit earlier this year, DNA reported.

“Very recently, leaders of both countries had a virtual summit. Commerce, culture, people-to-people ties, high-level political ties, the relationship encompasses all spheres. In short, as we move forward, we will see much stronger engagement between our two countries,” he was quoted saying in the report.

Gupta also underlined that the strong relationship is also due to the Indian diaspora in Australia.

“Diaspora has an important role in connecting the two countries together and during the last decade itself, diaspora number has doubled,” he said.

DNA also reported him saying that the Indian diaspora in Australia is very well aware of policies and decisions of the Indian government. He said that the Indian IT sector is very well represented in Sydney and Melbourne.

Read the full report in DNA