UK’s Travel Policy Discriminatory, Says Union Health Secretary

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Rajesh Bhushan, the Union Health Secretary of India has reacted to the United Kingdom’s travel policy and said that the dispensation being used for travel from October 4 is a discriminatory practice.

“We will repeat what MEA is saying. We believe the dispensation being used for travel is a discriminatory practice. We also reserve the right to do the same.”

Said Rajesh Bhushan

The British government’s latest guidelines for travelers entering the country have sparked controversy, with many terming the policy as ‘discriminatory’.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) warned the united kingdom (UK) of “reciprocal measures” if the issue of visit the united kingdom wasn’t resolved at the earliest.

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A statement by the MEA also said that External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar raised the difficulty with newly-appointed British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss during a gathering.

On September 17,  the United Kingdom has issued fresh guidelines and announced a major relaxation of international travel rules for vaccinated travelers arriving in the country.

The United Kingdom in its guidelines said a person vaccinated in Africa, South America, UAE, India, Turkey, Jordan, Thailand, and Russia would be considered “unvaccinated” in Britain.

Meanwhile, on October 22, the Govt of United Kingdom (UK) approved Covishield, the Indian version of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for travel. In its revised travel advisory, the UK govt says that Covishield qualifies as an approved vaccine.

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However, the British government, citing a “certification issue”, maintained that fully vaccinated Indians traveling to the united kingdom will still need to undergo 10-day mandatory quarantine, adding that they need to follow the “non-vaccinated rules”.

The revised policy, issued on September 22, will come into effect on October 4.


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Manish Khandelwal
Manish Khandelwal

Manish Khandelwal, a travel-tech enthusiast with over a decade of experience in the travel industry. Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Travelobiz.com, he's passionate about writing.

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