The number of repatriated Indian nationals stranded in the Maldives has surpassed 2,000.

A total of 719 Indian nationals stranded in the Maldives were repatriated through the major repatriation exercise launched by the Indian government on Friday.

Further, 171 Indian nationals were also evacuated on Thursday via an IndiGo flight.

The High Commission of India in the Maldives revealed via Twitter that the 719 Indian nationals were repatriated on INS Jalashwa and that this is the fourth repatriation voyage on an Indian navy boat.

The ship departed from Malé to Tuticorin and all passengers will be quarantined for a 14-day period.

Earlier, 1,488 were evacuated via two Navy ships; INS Jalashwa and INS Magar on three different evacuation voyages and with the fourth one, the total number of evacuees has reached 2,509.

HCI revealed that their endeavor has been to repatriate the “most needy” categories of Indians including pregnant women, cases of medical emergencies and workers.

Some of the returnees had tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival in India.

Throughout the biggest ever repatriation exercise amid the Covid-19 pandemic, India has evacuated over 14,000 of its citizens stranded across various parts of the globe.