Malaysia In Talk With India, 11 Other Countries To Start Travel Bubble

The Government of Malaysian is in various stages of travel bubble talks with 12 countries, including India. According to the country’s Foreign Ministry, discussions with many nations, both within and outside the ASEAN region, are underway to establish Vaccinated Travel Lanes.

The countries were picked based on diplomatic ties and the necessity to restore cross-border travel.

“As a result, the Malaysian government is negotiating with Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand for the ASEAN area.” Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and the United Kingdom are the other countries.”

Malaysia Vaccinated Travel Lane

As per a media report, Malaysia’s VTL (Vaccinated Travel Lane) talks are taking place in three stages. The initial negotiation stage is followed by extensive negotiations and then the implementation phase.

So far, only Singapore has reached the implementation level, with a VTL in place for both land and air arrivals since November 29. The two countries’ VTL arrangement was only temporarily halted as a result of the Omicron breakout.

“The Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL), which had previously been discontinued owing to the Omicron wave, reopened on January 21 with a reduced ticket sales quota of half of the prior quota.”

Brunei, Indonesia, and South Korea are all in the comprehensive discussions stage, while Thailand, Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam are still in the preliminary negotiations stage.

Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry said that the negotiations were slowed by the Omicron variant, which caused states to be cautious.

“In conclusion, with the exception of the VTL with Singapore, progress in negotiations on reopening borders with the other indicated countries is fairly slow due to Omicron’s spread.”

“Although each country has taken a cautious approach, conversations about the targeted re-opening of crossings in phases are still ongoing, and the Foreign Ministry will continue to work with all ministries and agencies to ensure the VTL coordination and negotiations are carried out.”

(With Inputs From The Star)