The Indian government is planning to impose a mandatory 10-day quarantine for all United Kingdom nationals arriving in India.
This move is being called as India's reciprocal tactic to UK's mandatory quarantine for even vaccinated Indians.
Starting October 4, 2021, UK nationals arriving in India will have to quarantine themselves along with undergoing three RT- PCR tests at different intervals. Before boarding, these passengers who have a UK passport will have to present a negative report which was carried out 72 hours prior to their departure. On landing in India, they will have to get another test at the airport, and then the final test is to be done on the eight day of their stay in India.
India had forewarned the UK that it would reciprocate in kind to their "discriminatory" policy of quarantining fully vaccinated Indians.
UK recognises Covishield as a valid COVID-19 vaccine but does not include India in the list of countries that are excluded from the mandatory quarantine.
In an earlier statement, the British High Commissioner's office had stated that while they had no issues with the Covid-19 vaccine, they wanted to understand the CoWin portal and the country's vaccination process. The statement also added that they were in continuous discussions with their Indian counterpart.
Following this discussion, RS Sharma, the CEO of the National Health Authority helming the working of the CoWin website, announced that the CoWin vaccination certificate will now be updated with the recipient's date of birth. This certificate now matches the World Health Organisation's standards of digital documentation for covid certification and will be helpful for international travellers.
A spokesperson from the British High Commission's office on Friday shared a statement with Indian Express which spoke about the two countries working together.
"The UK is open to travel and we're already seeing a lot of people going from India to the UK, be it tourists, business people or students. Over 62,500 student visas have been issued in the year ending June 2021, which is an increase of almost 30% as compared to the previous year," the statement said.
Also Read: Vaccinated Indians Can Travel To US From Nov 8. All You Need To Know