Toronto [Canada] May 23 (ANI): A doctor from the Kashmir valley, who went to meet her sister-in-law in Canada's Toronto city and stuck due to COVID-19 outbreak, has thanked the Indian government for arranging repatriation flight as this will help her to serve people back home during the pandemic.

Dr Farah said in an interview at the airport just before taking a flight to India, "I came here to visit my sister-in-law. I am a doctor myself and I had stuck here. I find so useless to be stranded here while my colleagues (doctors) out there (in JK) are fighting a war against COVID-19. I wanted to go and join work and help the people".

"I thank the Indian consulate in Toronto for arranging a repatriation flight which really helps us to reach home. I am more required to be there at this crucial time. I really thank the government of India as well as the Consulate for arranging these flights for us. I wish them all the best," she added.

The first evacuation flight from Toronto takes off on May 22 for Delhi and Amritsar with 315 people on board.

Flights to Hyderabad-Bengaluru and Ahmedabad-Jaipur have also been scheduled this week from Toronto under the Vande Bharat Mission.

Air India flight also took off from Vancouver International Airport on May 20 with over 200 Indians on board.

In a Facebook post, the Consulate General of India in Vancouver said, "The first Vande Bharat Mission flight from Canada left from Vancouver on May 20, 2020 with 200 passengers on board. Air India-1190 left Vancouver for Delhi and Amritsar with Indian citizens that included elderly, pregnant women, children and students, who were stranded here after travel restrictions were imposed due to Covid-19 outbreak".

Vande Bharat mission is the massive repatriation operation planned by the Indian government to bring back stranded Indians in different parts of the world in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. (ANI)