Indian Navy launches operation Samudra Setu to return Indians stranded abroad

The Indian Navy on Tuesday announced Operation ‘Samudra Setu’, meaning Sea Bridge, to repatriate Indian citizens who were stranded overseas as a result of the global grounding of airlines due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Two Navy ships, INS Jalashwa and INS Magar, are currently enroute to the port of Male, in the Maldives, to commence evacuation from May 8 as part of phase I, the Ministry of Defence said in a press release. “The Indian Mission in Republic of Maldives is preparing a list of Indian nationals to be evacuated by Naval ships and will facilitate their embarkation after requisite medical screening. A total of 1000 persons are planned to be evacuated during the first trip, catering for COVID- related social distancing norms vis-a-vis the carrying capacity and medical facilities available onboard,” the release said. INS Jalashwa, formerly the USS Trenton, is an amphibious landing dock capable of carrying over 1,000 people. INS Magar is capable of carrying around 500 troops.

“The ships have been suitably provisioned for the evacuation operation. The evacuated personnel would be provided the basic amenities and medical facilities during the sea-passage. In view of the unique challenges associated with COVID-19 stringent protocols have also been stipulated,” the release said. “The evacuated personnel will be disembarked at Kochi, Kerala and entrusted to the care of State authorities. This operation is being progressed in close coordination with Ministries of Defence, External Affairs, Home Affairs, Health and various other agencies of the Government of India and State governments.” The move comes as the Centre prepares to bring back Indian stranded abroad, allowing asymptomatic passengers to fly back to India after being medically screened. As per the standard operating procedure released by the Ministry of Home Affairs, a mandatory 14-day quarantine would have to be observed by all those returning to India. The Centre on Tuesday also said that in the first week starting May 7, approximately 14,800 stranded Indians would be brought back from abroad, with AirIndia to undertake 40 of these flights and Air India Express to undertake 24.