A special SriLankan Airlines flight will be leaving for India to repatriate Sri Lankan pilgrims in India, stated the Ministry of Buddha Sasana.
The charter flight will be leaving for New Delhi this evening (18).
The High Commission of Sri Lanka in New Delhi and the Deputy High Commission of Sri Lanka in Chennai, in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Relations and the Ministry of Buddha Sasana, coordinated and facilitated the arrangements for the early return of Sri Lankan Buddhist pilgrims currently in India.
According to the information gathered by the Sri Lankan diplomatic missions, there are approximately 1200 Sri Lankan Buddhist pilgrims belonging to 22 tour groups currently in India.
These pilgrims had arrived in India before the Government of Sri Lanka suspended Dambadiva pilgrimages on 09 March 2020.
However, these numbers, secured by contacting Sri Lankan Buddhist temples in India and tour groups themselves, may have some duplication in certain instances, given that some tour groups are on the move.
