Centre claims Mumbai, Delhi are practically COVID-free; Urges UK to review travel ban on Indians

The Centre has asked the United Kingdom to review the travel ban on Indians as the pandemic situation in the nation is improving.

The UK Foreign Office officials have been briefed on the current coronavirus situation in India, where many big cities are practically COVID-free, said Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Saturday, July 24.

This statement came after the foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who went to the UK on a two-day visit met UK foreign officials. In the meeting, he mentioned that Mumbai and Delhi are "practically free of COVID-19".

"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,” Shringla was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Responding to a question on international travel, he mentioned, “I briefed them [UK officials] on the coronavirus 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.

India is on UK's red list which means Indians can't visit the United Kingdom and returning citizens have to undergo a compulsory 10-day quarantine to get entry. Meanwhile, the United States recently lowered its travel advisory for India from no travel to reconsider travel. However, there are still restrictions on Indians travelling to the US.

According to reports, Shringla’s visit agenda was to take stock of the Roadmap 2030 towards closer UK-India ties agreed between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Boris Johnson, also shared plans for a reciprocal vaccine certification system to be unveiled by the Indian government soon to facilitate international travel.

Moreover, during his visit, he held meetings with senior UK government representatives, including Permanent Under-Secretary in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Sir Philip Barton and FCDO minister for South Asia Lord Tariq Ahmad.

Recently, Canada, the United Arab Emirates have extended flight bans from India. The flight ban was imposed when cases in India surged during the second wave of the pandemic.