Air India will operate its next Vande Bharat flights to China on Guangzhou to Delhi sector on 23rd and 30th October 2020.

This will be a big relief for Indian nationals stranded in China who want to return home due to compelling reasons.

Indian embassy in Beijing in a notification on Tuesday has advised to register with the embassy or the consulates to avail any of these flights.

This will also enable many stuck Indians to unite with their family members and to join back work in China.

Travellers to both sides will have to follow extant quarantine requirements in respective countries.

First Vande Bharat flight to China was operated on 20th June.

Last month, China allowed entry of certain categories of foreigners which enabled Indian employees of multinational companies to return to china.

However, China has not yet cleared the decks for entry of foreign students to China.

Over 23000 Indian students are still waiting for their return to china. Indian Embassy in Beijing is in regular touch with relevant authorities in Govt of China.

This is the 7th phase of Vande Bharat Mission which started on 1st October 2020.

The Ministry of External Affairs in a statement said, as on 30 September, 16.45 lakh Indians have been repatriated through different modes of the Vande Bharat Mission.

As of now, India has a bilateral ‘air bubble’ arrangement in place with 14 countries.