covishield: India says UK government’s stand on covishield ‘discriminatory’, warns of ‘reciprocal action’ India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday warned of reciprocal action against the UK government’s “discriminatory” move for not easing travel restrictions for Indians who have been fully vaccinated. coveshield.
According to the new rules announced by the United Kingdom, Indian travelers who have received both doses of covishield vaccine Produced by Serum Institute of India (SII) will be considered non-vaccinated and will have to undergo self-isolation and mandatory tests for 10 days.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said, “We have raised the discriminatory nature of UK vaccine accreditation for AstraZeneca, but not Covishield. On discussions, but if they do not satisfy us, we will be within our rights to reciprocate.” ”
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Shringla also said that the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar The issue has been vigorously raised with the new UK Foreign Secretary.

“Covishield’s non-recognition is a discriminatory policy and affects Indian citizens traveling to the UK,” he said.
Britain on Friday announced simplification of rules for international travel to England, including eliminating the need for fully vaccinated travelers to take expensive COVID-19 tests when arriving from low-risk countries.
Under the new proposals, destinations will be assigned only low or high risk, instead of the original three categories – red, amber and green, depending on the COVID risk.

India is not included in the expanded list of countries whose vaccines are recognized in the UK. This means Indians vaccinated with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by Covishield, SII, will have to undergo mandatory PCR tests as well as self-isolation.
There is a lot of anger among people due to the discriminatory quarantine policy of Britain towards India.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday announced that he had pulled out of several events in the United Kingdom to protest Britain’s “aggressive” policy of asking fully vaccinated Indians to quarantine , who were part of the launch event of his new book.

Congress has expressed concern over the travel restrictions announced by the UK and urged the government to ensure that no Indian traveling to that country is inconvenienced.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera hit out at the Modi government, saying it raises relevant questions on the way the government has handled international relations.
“So much for the political height that Mr (Narendra) Modi claims he has. It unfortunately does not come to the rescue of common Indians. It does not come to the rescue of India’s interests. When push to push If it comes, we will have to pay a heavy price for it.”
“We would request the government to intervene immediately and ensure that there is no inconvenience to any Indian traveling to the UK,” he said.
(with inputs from agencies)