1000 Japanese expats return to India since August in six charter flights
The current number of Japanese nationals in India is around 2,000 as around 8000 had left for Japan earlier because of the Coronavirus outbreak. The number of Japanese in India in pre-covid time was around 10,000.
NEW DELHI: The Japanese expats who had returned to their country of origin due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India, have started to come back but at a slow pace and on a cautious note.
As many as 1000 Japanese expats, mostly professionals, and some women, and children have returned to India in six charter flights in the last two and a half months with the first flight entering the Indian airspace in post-COVID era was on August 5 this year.
The next charter flight – a Japan Airlines (JAL) carrier with more than 200 Japanese expats on board is scheduled to land in India on October 31.
However, about 300 Japanese ex-pats have also gone back to Japan for summer vacations during the last couple of months, according to the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in India (JCCII), the Japanese trading arm that is coordinating with the Indian and Japanese authorities for arranging the charter flights for the Japanese community in India.
JCCII that represents 450 Japanese companies in Delhi and NCR towns, closely coordinated the efforts with the JETRO – Japan External Trade Organization that has a pan-India footprint representing 1454 Japanese companies in India.
“About 1000 Japanese expats have returned to India in six charter flights operating from Japan to India in the last two and a half months. Five of these charter flights were operated by JAL and one by ANA. About 300 of our people have also left for Japan on summer vacation. Therefore, the effective number of Japanese expats returning to India recently is around 700,” said Kenji Sugino, Secretary-General, JCCII.
With this development, the total number of Japanese nationals currently staying in India is under 2,000 as around 8000 had already left for Japan earlier because of the Coronavirus outbreak in the country, the JCCII Secretary-General added.
The number of Japanese in India in pre-covid time was around 10,000.
Most of those returning to India include professionals, engineers, R&D Experts working in the manufacturing and engineering sector. Those in the service sector such as information technology (IT), banking and finance, and other related fields continue to remain in Japan and manage their Indian operations from there only.
Kenji Sugino indicated that the return of the Japanese community to India was at a slow pace because of the COVID-19 positive cases surging here. Also, the rising pollution and worsening air quality especially in Delhi and NCR towns was a major cause of concern for the community.
Related read: Welcome back: Flight with 168 Japanese professionals onboard lands in India; First since March
After a long wait of over five months since March when the lockdown was clamped, it was on August 5, the first lot of 168 Japanese executives and engineers including seven Indians employed with various India-based Japanese firms had arrived in India.
The Japan Airlines 8839 aircraft that had flown from Haneda airport was the first non-scheduled passenger charter flight from Japan to enter Indian airspace and land at New Delhi airport on August 5 with Japanese nationals ever since the Indian government had banned the operation of scheduled domestic and international flights operation in March as one of the measures to check the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
