In response to India’s reciprocal action on UK nationals arriving in India, the British High Commission on Friday responded by saying that they are working with the central government to make the travelling process for Indians “as easy as possible”.
The British Commission also said that it was cooperating with the Centre to recognize vaccine certification by a “relevant public health body in India”.
‘The United Kingdom was using a ‘phased approach’ to resolve issues in expanding its travel policy for other countries and territories,” the commission further added.
It must be noted that starting from Oct 04 all UK nationals arriving into the country will have to undergo mandatory 10-day quarantine and also produce negative RT-PCR test reports.
New Guidelines For Passengers From United Kingdom
From October 4, all UK nationals arriving in India from the UK, irrespective of their vaccination status, will have to undertake the following measures:
- Pre-departure Covid-19 RT-PRC test within 72 hours before travel
- Covid-19 RT-PCR test on arrival at airport
- Covid-19 RT-PCR test on Day 8 after arrival
- Mandatory quarantine at home or in the destination address for 10 days after arrival in India
The home ministry and civil aviation ministry will be taking steps to implement the new measures.
UK High Commission Responded
Providing a background for UK’s travel-related rules in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the High Commission spokesperson said decisions on vaccine recognition were made by ministers, taking into account public health factors. “We’re looking at expanding the role that vaccination can play more widely for those who have been fully vaccinated elsewhere to enter the UK,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also said the UK was constantly reviewing visa rules throughout the pandemic to keep borders open whilst gradually and safely restarting travel. “We will continue to review the scientific evidence on other vaccines and will keep the health measures under regular review,” the spokesperson added.
India’s new regulations for UK travellers, meanwhile, will come into effect from October 4 and will be applicable to all UK nationals arriving from the UK. Regardless of vaccine status, arrivals will have to undergo tests and mandatory quarantine. The step has been taken after making several appeals to UK authorities to ease vaccine certification norms for Indian travellers.
The latest changes in rules by the UK, announced last month, mandate that only people who have got both shots of a double-dose vaccine such as Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna or the single shot Janssen vaccine “under an approved vaccination program in the UK, Europe, US or UK vaccine programme overseas” will be considered fully vaccinated.
India’s Covishield vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and manufactured in India by Pune-based Serum Institute, is not recognized by Britain under new rules despite being identical to the doses given to millions of Britons.
Follow and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Google News for the latest travel news and updates!
