KOCHI: As part of the third phase of its mission to bring back Indian citizens stranded abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian Navy will repatriate expatriates stranded in neighbouring Sri Lanka in the beginning of next month, Defence sources said on Wednesday.
The Indian Navy Ship INS Jalashwa under "Operation Samudra Setu" will evacuate around 700 Indian nationals stranded in the island nation, the sources said.
The ship is expected to start its journey from Colombo on June 1 and arrive in Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu on June 2, they said.
The Indian Navy had safely repatriated nearly 1,500 Indian nationals from the Maldives in two phases under "Operation Samudra Setu" in its two vessels--INS Jalashwa and INS Magar on May 10, May 12 and May 17.