New Delhi: India on Friday decided to impose reciprocity on British nationals, under which UK nationals arriving in the country must undergo mandatory quarantine at home or at their destination address for 10 days after their arrival. The decision comes after the UK announced new travel rules, according to which every Indian citizen, even those who have received both doses of the Kovidshield vaccine, will not be vaccinated.
The British High Commission, reacting to India’s new travel rules, has said that the commission was working with the central government to make the travel process as easy as possible for Indian citizens.
The commission further said that it is using a “phased approach” to expand its travel policy. “The UK continues to work on expanding the policy to countries and territories around the world in a phased approach. We have been vaccinated by a relevant public health body in India,” a British High Commission spokesperson was quoted by News18 as saying. We are continuing to engage with the Indian government on technical collaboration to expand UK accreditation of vaccine certification to the public.
According to a report, the reciprocity will come into effect from 4 October, the same day the new UK travel rules will come into force.
Accordingly, from 4 October, all UK nationals arriving in India from the UK, irrespective of their immunization status, will have to undergo pre-departure COVID-19 RT-PCR test, RT-PCR test on arrival, within 72 hours of travel. RT-PCR test at the airport and 8 days after arrival.
However, according to new British regulations, travelers will be eligible for full vaccination if they have taken a full course of Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna or Janssen vaccines from a relevant public health body in Australia, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados. Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, Dominica, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan or the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
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