UK Minister assures Shringla to resolve quarantine issue for Indian travellers

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla with UK Minister of State Foreign Commonwealth and Development Affairs Tariq Ahmad

New York [US], September 25 (ANI): On the sidelines of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) here, UK Minister of State Foreign Commonwealth and Development Affairs Tariq Ahmad conveyed to Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla that British officials were working to resolve quarantine issue for Indians travellers entering the UK.

Shringla had a discussion with Tariq Ahmad on various issues including the situation in Afghanistan.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Saturday said in a tweet, "FS @harshvshringla met Minister @tariqahmadbt of the UK Foreign Office at New York in the margins of UNGA for a discussion on issues including the situation in Afghanistan. Lord Ahmad conveyed that UK authorities were working to resolve quarantine issue for Indians entering the UK."

There were concerns over the UK's vaccine recognition process for Indian travellers.

Recently, the UK issued a revised travel advisory and said that Covishield is qualified as an approved vaccine.

It approved individuals with a full course of the 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 or Taiwan. But the list does not include India.

Amid concerns in India about UK's new travel rules, British High Commissioner Alex Ellis on Thursday held discussions with National Health Authority CEO RS Sharma.

Ellis said the "excellent discussions" were an important step forward in "our joint aim to facilitate travel and fully protect the public health of UK and India". (ANI)