Government of Bangladesh is planning to bring back its citizens from India who are willing to return back to the country following the lockdown in India and closing of the borders for travel.

Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Mohammad Imran told the official news agency BSS on Monday that a total of 162 Bangladeshis in India have expressed their willingness to return to the country so far. The Bangladesh High Commission in India is exploring the possibility of hiring a chartered flight to bring back its citizens to Dhaka. Hundreds of Bangladeshi citizens remained stuck at various hospitals and medical facilities where they had gone to seek treatment.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has also taken steps to facilitate its citizens stranded abroad. It has instructed banks and Authorised Dealers to release foreign exchange within permissible limits on their international cards to help them deal with the disruption caused by Corona outbreak.

In the meanwhile, some foreign missions in Bangladesh are arranging special flights to send back their citizens. 269 American citizens left for US on Monday by a special chartered flight from Dhaka. The US embassy had earlier clarified on Sunday that it is not forcing anyone to return to US. The decision to return is a personal choice.

Bangladesh reported one more new case of Corona virus infection on Monday taking the total number of infected persons to 49. Five persons have succumbed to the Corona infection so far.