KUALA LUMPUR: Ninety-six Malaysians, who were among a few hundred stranded in India, were flown home via an AirAsia flight, last night.
A Wisma Putra Twitter statement said its missions in New Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai worked around the clock to ensure the safe return of the first batch of Malaysians stranded in India.
It is learnt that Wisma Putra is working towards bringing home the remaining Malaysians, including the estimated 800 more elsewhere around the world.
Airlines had stopped scheduled flights between India and Malaysia since Tuesday afternoon after an Indian government order announced new restrictions on international travel as part of the country's tightening measures to combat the Covid-19 outbreak.
Malaysian carriers like Malindo Air and Malaysia Airlines also suspended flights to India.
The Malaysian High Commission on Wednesday was in touch with 230 Malaysians who wanted to leave India, but many could not make it to Delhi to take the special flight, which took off with 111 passengers around 11pm.
AirAsia also reportedly operated an evacuation flight from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh state to Kuala Lumpur with 24 passengers.
AirAsia earlier brought 405 Indian passengers from Kuala Lumpur to Visakhapatnam and New Delhi on Wednesday before taking the stranded Malaysians back home.
High Commissioner Datuk Hidayat Abdul Hamid said Malaysian nationals still in India may fly back home via other routes, including Singapore.
Malaysians in India were advised to register themselves with the diplomatic missions in Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai to assist them in the evacuation.
Hundreds of Malaysians studying or visiting India have already registered themselves with the Malaysian missions, with the largest number being at the consulate in Chennai.
About 150 Malaysians were stuck in the Tiruchirappalli district of Tamil Nadu and more than 50 wanted to leave Chennai.