‘Operation Samudra Setu’: Indian Navy To Evacuate 700 More Indians From Maldives

Indian Navy's largest amphibious warship INS Jalashwa is set to evacuate around 700 more Indian nationals in its second repatriation sortie to the Maldives under the ‘Operation Samudra Setu’ on 15 May, reports Times of India.

The rescued Indian nationals will be brought to Kochi, following which they would be placed under quarantine for a span of 14 days. On 10 May, in its previous sortie to the Maldives, INS Jalashwa had evacuated 698 Indians stranded in the island nation due to the Coronavirus-induced lockdown.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday (12 May), Indian Navy's another amphibious warship, INS Magar had returned from the Maldives to Kochi, bringing back 202 Indians.

In total, 1,800-2000 Indian nationals are expected to be evacuated from the Maldives by the two warships of the Navy in batches. This makes a sizable chunk of around 4,500 Indians in the Maldives who have expressed their desire to return to India. Meanwhile, it should be noted that the Maldives is home to around 27,000 Indian nationals.