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The India-Australia-Japan-US Ministerial (Quad meeting) on October 6 between Foreign Ministers of the four countries will focus on the post-Covid-19 international order, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

The Foreign Ministers will discuss the need for coordinating responses to the challenges emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic, said MEA’s spokesperson, Anurag Srivastava, at a press briefing on Thursday.

“There will also be a discussion on regional issues. The Foreign Ministers are expected to collectively affirm the importance of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific,” he added. Updating the status of the Vande Bharat Mission (VBM), the spokesperson said that as on September 30, a total of 16.45 lakh Indians have been repatriated through different modes of the mission. To meet the continued demand, Phase 7 of VBM has been operationalised from October 1, 2020.

Vande Bharat Mission

“As of now, 820 international flights have been scheduled from 19 countries to be operated under Phase 7 during the course of this month. These include mainly flights from among the 14 countries with which India has a bilateral ‘air bubble’ arrangement in place. These flights will reach 24 airports across India, repatriating an estimated 1.5 lakh people,” said Srivastava.