Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 22 July 2020 to Questions 76100 and 76099, what assessment he has made of the effect on UK residents stranded abroad in Punjab as a result of the covid-19 pandemic who registered with his Department for flights to return to the UK as a result of his Department not being able to determine how many of those residents remain stranded.

We believe the vast majority of British travellers seeking to return to the UK - who don't have commercial options - have now done so. Through our embassies, and a dedicated central team, we continue to support British nationals who need consular support and are working to ensure commercial routes are maintained.

We have brought nearly 18,000 people back to the UK on 66 chartered flights from India, including from New Delhi, Goa, Mumbai, the Punjab, Gujarat and West Bengal. These flights carried almost all of those in India who registered, were eligible, and took up a flight when given the chance to do so. Since then, thousands of people, including British nationals, have been able to make use of outbound legs of Air India's "Vande Bharat" repatriation flights to return to the UK, as well as the increasing number of British Airways flights which are now running from India. The British High Commission is in contact with airlines, the Indian authorities, and other governments to make sure that more commercial options for returning to the UK are available as soon as possible.

Repatriation flights from the Punjab started just five days into the repatriation operation. We estimate that of the 18,000 people who returned to the UK, over 8,000 returned from the Punjab on 29 charter flights between 13 April and 4 June. Our consular teams in India continue to work around the clock to provide support, advice and information to British travellers remaining in Punjab. Any British travellers who require consular assistance should contact us on consular lines or visit the 'staying in India' page of our travel advice.