News Analysis India

Tag: UK Travel Rules

  • EAM Jaishankar speaks to UK counterpart on travel related issues

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: A day after the UK announced lifting of its quarantine rule for Indian travellers, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday spoke to his British counterpart Liz Truss with a focus on issues relating to travel between the two countries.

    The UK on Thursday announced that Indian travellers fully vaccinated with both doses of Covishield or any other vaccine approved by it will not require to undergo a 10-day mandatory quarantine on arrival from October 11.

    “Good to talk to UK Foreign Secretary @trussliz. Agreed to facilitate travel between our two countries. This will help to implement the Roadmap 2030,” Jaishankar tweeted.

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    The Roadmap 2030 was adopted at a virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson at a virtual summit in May.

    The roadmap is aimed at elevating bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership and guide cooperation over the next decade in the key areas of trade and economy, defence and security, climate change and people-to-people connect among others.

    The annoucement on lifting quarantine rule for Indian travellers was made by British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis on Thursday evening.

    “From Monday, a traveller from India to the UK, double jabbed with Covishield or another vaccine recognised by the UK regulator does not have to quarantine. It will be easier and cheaper to enter the UK. This is great news,” Ellis said in a video statement.

    Separately, the UK issued a fresh travel advisory and said the “red list” will reduce to seven countries and “proof of vaccination will be recognised from 37 new countries and territories including India from 4 am on Monday.

    Under the new British rules that came into effect on October 4, Indians, fully vaccinated with Covishield, required to undergo 10-day quarantine as the UK had issues with India’s COVID-19 vaccine certification.

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    India also imposed reciprocal action under which all British nationals arriving in India from the UK needed to undergo a mandatory 10-day quarantine even if they are fully vaccinated.

    In its latest travel advisory, the UK said the government extended the inbound vaccinated arrivals system to a further 37 countries and territories across the globe including India, South Africa and Turkey, which meant eligible vaccinated passengers arriving from the rest of the world countries only need to take a “day two test in England”.

    People familiar with the matter said Indian travellers who have received both doses of Covishield or another UK-approved vaccine will not also be required to take a pre-departure test nor take a day eight test following their arrival.

    The UK initially refused to recognise Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII).

    However, following India’s strong criticism of the decision, the UK on September 22 amended its new guidelines and included the vaccine.

    The move did not provide any relief from quarantine rules for Indian travellers vaccinated with two doses of Covishield.

    Later, British officials said the UK has issues with India’s vaccine certification process and not with the Covishield vaccine.

  • India warns of reciprocal measures if UK does not address concerns on travel rules related to COVID-19 vaccination

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday warned of “reciprocal measures” if the UK does not address its concerns over the new travel rules relating to COVID-19 vaccine certification with Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla describing these norms as “discriminatory”.

    External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also took up the issue of Covishield-vaccinated travellers being required to quarantine in the UK with newly-appointed British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss at a meeting in New York.

    “The basic issue is that here is a vaccine, Covishield, which is a licensed product of the UK company, manufactured in India of which we have supplied five million doses to the UK at the request of the government of the UK.

    “We understand that this is being used under the national health system, and, therefore, non-recognition of Covishield is a discriminatory policy and does impact those of our citizens travelling to the UK,” Shringla said at a media briefing here.

    Official sources said India will definitely take reciprocal measures against travellers from the UK if its concerns relating to the vaccine certification are not addressed by October 4, when the new rules will come into effect.

    The foreign secretary said he has been told that certain “assurances” were being given by the UK that the issue will be resolved.

    “We have also offered to some of the partner countries the option of mutual recognition of vaccination certificates. But these are reciprocal measures. We have to see how it goes. But if we do not get satisfaction we would be within our rights to impose reciprocal measures,” Shringla said.

    According to the new rules announced by the UK, Indian travellers who have received both doses of the Covishield vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) will be considered unvaccinated and will have to undergo self-isolation for 10 days.

    Developed by researchers at the University of Oxford and pharma giant AstraZeneca, Covishield is one of the two anti-COVID vaccines used by India — Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin being the other –in its vaccination drive across the country.

    The new rules have drawn sharp criticism in India with the opposition Congress urging the government to immediately intervene and ensure that there is no inconvenience faced by Indian travellers.

    It is learnt that New Delhi has already issued a note verbale to the UK on the matter.

    In the meeting with Truss, the external affairs minister raised the issue with her and called for resolving it at the earliest to mutual satisfaction.

    “Urged early resolution of quarantine issue in mutual interest,” Jaishankar tweeted after the meeting.

    From October 4, the current “traffic light system” of red, amber, green countries based on levels of COVID-19 risk will be replaced by one red list of countries.

    The scrapping of an amber list, which is what India is currently on, means reduced PCR test cost burden only for some travellers.

    The expanded list of countries whose vaccines are recognised in the UK does not include India.

    It means Indians vaccinated with Covishield would be required to undergo compulsory PCR tests as well as self-isolation.

    The British High Commission on Monday said it is engaging with India to explore how it could expand recognition of Covid-19 vaccine certification issued by Indian authorities.

    “The UK is committed to opening up international travel again as soon as is practicable and this announcement is a further step to enable people to travel more freely again, in a safe and sustainable way, while protecting public health,” a spokesperson of the High Commission said.

    “We are engaging with the Government of India to explore how we could expand UK recognition of vaccine certification to people vaccinated by a relevant public health body in India,” the official added.

    Former union ministers and Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Anand Sharma and Shashi Tharoor have slammed the UK’s travel policy, with Ramesh saying it “smacks of racism”.

  • ‘Smacks of racism’: Jairam Ramesh, Shashi Tharoor slam UK’s Covid travel rules for vaccinated Indians

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Former Union ministers Jairam Ramesh and Shashi Tharoor on Monday slammed the UK’s COVID-19-related travel rules under which Indians vaccinated with Covishield would still be treated as unvaccinated, with Ramesh saying it “smacks of racism”.

    Passengers who aren’t recognised as being fully vaccinated with authorised vaccines and certificates under England’s international travel rules, including Indians, will still have to take a pre-departure test, a day 2 and day 8 PCR test, and self-isolate at their given address for 10 days upon entry, according to the rules.

    Tweeting on the restrictions, Congress leader Ramesh said, “Absolutely bizarre considering Covishield was originally developed in the UK and The Serum Institute, Pune has supplied to that country too! This smacks of racism.”

    Absolutely bizarre considering Covishield was originally developed in the UK and The Serum Institute, Pune has supplied to that country too! This smacks of racism. https://t.co/GtKOzMgydf
    — Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) September 20, 2021
    Tagging a thread on Twitter that explained the rules, Tharoor also slammed the restrictions on vaccinated Indians, saying, “Because of this I have pulled out of a debate at the @cambridgeunion & out of launch events for the UK edition of my book #TheBattleOfBelonging (published there as #TheStruggleForIndiasSoul).”

    “It is offensive to ask fully vaccinated Indians to quarantine. The Brits are reviewing!” the former minister of state for external affairs said.

    Because of this I have pulled out of a debate at the @cambridgeunion &out of launch events for the UK edition of my book #TheBattleOfBelonging (published there as #TheStruggleForIndiasSoul). It is offensive to ask fully vaccinated Indians to quarantine. The Brits are reviewing! https://t.co/YEVy3Ez5dj
    — Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) September 20, 2021
    From October 4, the current traffic light system of red, amber and green countries based on levels of COVID-19 risk will be scrapped in the UK and replaced with one red list only.

    The scrapping of an amber list, which is what India is currently on, means reduced cost burden for travellers — especially for the Indian diaspora vaccinated in the UK — related to compulsory PCR tests.

    However, an expanded list of countries whose vaccines are recognised in England does not include India, which means that Indians vaccinated with Covishield — the Serum Institute of India produced Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine — would still be subjected to the restrictions mandatory for those unvaccinated.