Smacks of racism, offensive: Shashi Tharoor, Jairam Ramesh slam UK's Covid-19 travel rules

20 September,2021 04:21 PM IST |  New Delhi  |  PTI

According to the rules, passengers who aren`t recognised as being fully vaccinated with authorised vaccines and certificates under England`s international travel rules, including Indians, will still have to take a pre-departure test, a day 2 and day 8 PCR test, and self-isolate at their given address for 10 days upon entry

Shashi Tharoor (L), Jairam Ramesh (R)


Former Union ministers Jairam Ramesh and Shashi Tharoor on Monday slammed the UK's COVID-19-related travel rules under which Indians vaccinated with Covishield would still be treated as unvaccinated, with Ramesh saying it "smacks of racism".

Passengers who aren't recognised as being fully vaccinated with authorised vaccines and certificates under England's international travel rules, including Indians, will still have to take a pre-departure test, a day 2 and day 8 PCR test, and self-isolate at their given address for 10 days upon entry, according to the rules.

Tweeting on the restrictions, Congress leader Ramesh said, "Absolutely bizarre considering Covishield was originally developed in the UK and The Serum Institute, Pune has supplied to that country too! This smacks of racism."

Tagging a thread on Twitter that explained the rules, Tharoor also slammed the restrictions on vaccinated Indians, saying, "Because of this I have pulled out of a debate at the @cambridgeunion & out of launch events for the UK edition of my book #TheBattleOfBelonging (published there as #TheStruggleForIndiasSoul)."

Also read: UK records another 29,612 Covid-19 cases

"It is offensive to ask fully vaccinated Indians to quarantine. The Brits are reviewing!" the former minister of state for external affairs said.

From October 4, the current traffic light system of red, amber and green countries based on levels of Covid-19 risk will be scrapped in the UK and replaced with one red list only.

The scrapping of an amber list, which is what India is currently on, means reduced cost burden for travellers -- especially for the Indian diaspora vaccinated in the UK -- related to compulsory PCR tests.

However, an expanded list of countries whose vaccines are recognised in England does not include India, which means that Indians vaccinated with Covishield -- the S

erum Institute of India produced Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine -- would still be subjected to the restrictions mandatory for those unvaccinated.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
united kingdom shashi tharoor congress Coronavirus national news
Related Stories