<p>External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar addressed the Distinguished Alumni Annual Lecture at St Stephen's in Delhi on March 24. While addressing the event, he said, “The ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ brought back thousands of Indians from multiple countries through air, sea, and land. Vande Bharat is the largest evacuation exercise in human history. The movement of the people itself was the tip of the ice-pick, behind it there was a complex set of activities that included organising, gathering, testing and feeding. The mission covered everybody from tourists, locals, workers even pilgrims and fishermen.” The ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ was started in early May 2020 to evacuate Indians stranded abroad due to coronavirus-induced travel restrictions.</p>