By Arul Louis New York, April 23 : The US has airlifted 4,000 Americans from India, while 6,000 were waiting, according to the State Department's top consular official. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Ian Brownlee said on Wednesday that India was "more challenging at the moment" in the repatriation efforts because of the lockdown. Of the about 17,000 Americans waiting to return to the US, 6,000 are in India, he said. "We've already coordinated the repatriation of more than 4,000 US citizens. We have four more flights scheduled in the coming days." It "is no small feat in the midst of a nationwide lockdown" to get people to New Delhi and Mumbai from where the flights to the US leave, he said. US diplomats "are actively coordinating with passengers arriving on feeder flights and buses from all across this huge country" to the departure hubs, he added. (Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis) /IANS