India asks UK to review Travel ‘Red List’
New Delhi, Jul 25: As the Covid situation is gradually improving, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has asked UK Foreign Office officials to consider a review of the travel ban on visitors from India. “Mumbai, Delhi, big cities are practically free of COVID. But we can’t rest on that situation because we are constantly vigilant, telling our citizens to take precautions so that we don’t have a third wave,” news agency ANI quoted Shringla as saying. He also shared plans for a reciprocal vaccine certification system to be unveiled by the Indian government soon to facilitate international travel. Notably, Shringla had arrived in the UK for a two-day visit on Friday to take stock of the Roadmap 2030 towards closer UK-India ties agreed between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Boris Johnson.
Referring to France, the second-largest European Union nation which has recently included Covishield in the list of approved vaccines for travel to the country, Shringla asserted,”I briefed them [UK officials] on the COVID situation in India. I pointed out that France had cleared visitors from India without quarantine, if they are double vaccinated and have a negative test. The US has upgraded India in the travel scheme, encouraged the UK to do the same and they took note of it”.
Under the current rules, India remains on the travel red list which effectively bans visitors from India, with returning citizens required to undergo a compulsory 10-day hotel quarantine on entry to Britain. With reference to instances of the India-made Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, Covishield, not being recognised by the European Union (EU), the Foreign Secretary reiterated that AstraZeneca had applied to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on behalf of the Serum Institute of India (SII) in a letter dated May 14.
“It’s an Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine being manufactured under a transfer of technology in India so there can’t be any difference in product between that produced at the Serum Institute of India (SII) or anywhere else”, said Shringla.
