India on Sunday sent a special plane to bring back its nationals wanting to return home from Egypt. The Air India flight with a capacity to carry 300-odd passengers will leave Cairo late at night, the External Affairs Ministry said.

An Air India official told Arab News that if needed, the airline will press into operations to evacuate Indians.

Some of the 3,600-odd Indians, who live in Egypt that is facing political unrest at present, have expressed their interest in returning home and the flight is arranged based on their request, the source said.

Flight schedules in and out of Egypt have been disrupted in the last couple of days after anti-government protests broke out there seeking the stepping down of President Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power for over three decades now. Due to the disruption in flights, the Indian government took a decision to send its own aircraft to Cairo to ferry Indians back home if they desired so, the sources said, noting that of the 3,600 Indians in Egypt, 2,200 are residents of Cairo.

On Saturday, the External Affairs Ministry issued an advisory asking Indians to avoid all non-essential travel to Egypt. It also noted that its embassy in Cairo was in touch with the Indians living there and they were safe.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit stated in Islamabad on Sunday, there were more than 150 Pakistani families in Egypt and preparations to bring them back to the country were complete. Pakistanis will be brought back home by a special air force aircraft.

Basit said Pakistani Embassy in Cairo has informed that Pakistanis in Egypt were alright and, if needed, they will be air-lifted from the troubled country.