When asked about the concerns in India over the new rules that will come into effect from October 4, the British High Commission spokesperson said the UK was engaged with India on the issue and was committed to opening up international travel again “as soon as is practicable”
As India expressed its concerns over the new travel rules, UK said that it was talking to India about the recognition of the Covishield vaccine certificates.
The new UK rules state that Indian travellers who have received both shots of the Covishield vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) would be considered unvaccinated and would have to undergo self-isolation for 10 days. A spokesperson in the British High Commission mentioned the dialogue with India.
When asked about the concerns in India over the new rules that will come into effect from October 4, the British High Commission spokesperson said the UK was engaged with India on the issue and was committed to opening up international travel again “as soon as is practicable”.
“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,” the spokesperson was quoted saying.
The new UK rules have caused quite a stir. Congress Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor cancelled his trip to Britain and tweeted: “Because of this I have pulled out of a debate at the Cambridge Union and 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!”
It is reported that visa applications from Indian travellers for all categories are being processed and they do not need to be vaccinated to travel to the UK
Another Congress leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted to condemn the UK government’s new travel rules.
India is on the amber list and its scrapping will mean that a 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, the SII-produced OxfordAstraZeneca vaccine, would be required to undergo compulsory PCR tests as well as self-isolation.
Meanwhile, it is reported that visa applications from Indian travellers for all categories are being processed and they do not need to be vaccinated to travel to the UK. They said regardless of an Indian national’s vaccination status, the person travelling from India to the UK must take a pre-departure test and a COVID-19 test on or before day two of the visit, and on or after day eight, and self-isolate for 10 days.
************************************************************************
Readers
These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.
Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world. We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.
Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.
In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.
For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com