As the world slowly tries to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, India has proposed air bubbles with five neighbouring countries barring Pakistan, civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said Tuesday (July 18).

One of the worst affected industry is civil aviation because international air travel came to a grinding halt due to the spread of Wuhan virus.

“Air bubbles have also been proposed with our neighbours Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal & Bhutan. Going forward, we will consider such arrangements with other countries also. It is always our endeavour to reach out to every stranded citizen. No Indian will be left behind,” Puri tweeted.

We continue to further strengthen the reach & scope of VBM. Air Travel arrangements are already in place with USA, UK, France, Germany, UAE, Qatar & Maldives.

We are now taking these efforts forward & are negotiating with 13 more countries to establish such arrangements.

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) August 18, 2020

These countries include Australia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Bahrain, Israel, Kenya, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea & Thailand.

The ongoing negotiations will benefit stranded Indians & nationals of these countries.

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) August 18, 2020

Air bubbles have also been proposed with our neighbors Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal &Bhutan. Going forward, we will consider such arrangements with other countries also. It is always our endeavour to reach out to every stranded citizen. No Indian will be left behind.

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) August 18, 2020

At present, India operates international flights for only evacuating its residents from various countries under the Vande Bharat mission (VBM).

“We continue to further strengthen the reach & scope of VBM. Air Travel arrangements are already in place with the USA, UK, France, Germany, UAE, Qatar & Maldives. We are now taking these efforts forward & are negotiating with 13 more countries to establish such arrangements.”

“These include Australia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Bahrain, Israel, Kenya, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea & Thailand,” he said in another tweet.

On August 15, the air bubble became operational with Canada that has large Indian diaspora.

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