1. Home
2. India

To quarantine or not to quarantine? How UK's travel policy for vaccinated Indians kicked up a storm

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 9/23/2021 6:06:46 AM

New Delhi, Sep 22 The British government's latest guidelines for travellers entering the country have sparked controversy, with many terming the policy as 'discriminatory'. On Tuesday, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) warned the United Kingdom (UK) of "reciprocal measures" if the issue of travel to the UK was not resolved at the earliest. A statement by the MEA also said that External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar raised the issue with newlyappointed British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss during a meeting on Tuesday. On Wednesday, while the UK said it would now recognise Covishield, which is manufactured in India and is the primary vaccine being administered here, but Indians vaccinated with it would still have to quarantine in order to travel to the UK. British officials were quoted as saying that the issue lies with "vaccine certification" and not with Covishield itself, adding that India and the UK are holding talks to resolve the issue mutually. In the previous set of guidelines issued on September 17, the UK said a person vaccinated in Africa, South America, UAE, India, Turkey, Jordan, Thailand and Russia would be considered "unvaccinated.