Tit for tat: All UK nationals arriving in India to undergo 10-day quarantine
New Delhi: All British nationals arriving in India from the UK will have to undergo a mandatory 10-day quarantine from Monday irrespective of their vaccination status as part of India’s reciprocal action against the UK’s new international travel rules with similar measures for Indians.
India has decided to impose reciprocal curbs against all British nationals arriving in the country, official sources said on Friday as the contentious issue relating to the UK not recognising Indian vaccine certificates could not be resolved despite holding a series of technical-level talks.
There was no immediate reaction from the UK to India’s tit-for-tat move.
In a strong reaction to the new British travel rules, India on September 19 had warned of “reciprocal measures” unless the UK addresses its concerns while describing these norms against Indians as “discriminatory”.
Under India’s new norms, all British nationals arriving in India from the UK, irrespective of their vaccination status, will have to produce the result of the RT-PCR test done within 72 hours before travel.
They will also have to undertake two more RT-PCR tests, one on their arrival at the airport in India and the second one on Day 8 after arrival, the sources said.
Besides the tests, all the travellers will have to undergo mandatory quarantine at home or in the destination address for 10 days after arrival in India, the sources said, adding authorities in the Health and Civil Aviation ministries would be taking steps to implement the new measures.
As per the current Indian travel rules, airlines need to ensure negative RT-PCR before allowing passengers to board in case of those coming from the UK.
On arrival, they need to give sample at Indian airport and exit. In case of positive result, they need to be isolated and treated. For negative results, they need to be in home quarantine for 7 days and get re-tested.
Under the new British rules that are also coming into effect from Monday, fully vaccinated Indians will have to undergo 10-day quarantine as the UK have issues with India’s Covid-19 vaccine certification.
The UK initially refused to recognise Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII). However, following India’s strong criticism of the decision, the UK on September 22 amended its new guidelines and included the vaccine.
However, the move did not provide any relief from quarantine rules for Indian travellers vaccinated with two doses of Covishield. Later, British officials said the UK has issues with India’s vaccine certification process and not with the Covishield vaccine.
The two sides held series of technical-level talks to resolve the vaccine certification issue, but there has not been any solution to it as yet.
According to the new UK rules, Indian travellers who received both doses of the Covishield vaccine will be considered unvaccinated.
The new British rules have triggered massive criticism in India.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also took up the issue of Covishield-vaccinated travellers being required to quarantine in the UK with newly-appointed British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss at a meeting in New York on September 21.
Developed by researchers at the University of Oxford and pharma giant AstraZeneca, Covishield is one of the two anti-COVID vaccines used by India — Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin being the other –in its vaccination drive across the country.
Press Trust of India
