Following a sharp and sustained decline in Covid-19 cases, India on November 16 decided to reopen the entry of all international tourists.
According to the officials, foreign travellers will be allowed to visit India without a mandatory quarantine. The government`s decision came 20 months after the pandemic situation improved in the country.
The entry is allowed to fully inoculated tourists from 99 countries, including the UK, USA, Israel, Brazil, Canada, Greece, Kuwait, Colombia, Russia and Germany. These countries have already recognized the Indian vaccination certificates or WHO-recognised vaccinated Indian travellers in their countries.
The only mandatory put forward by the government is that such tourists monitor their health for 14 days after they arrive in India.
If a visitor has taken only one shot of the Covid vaccine, then he/she will have to go for an RT-PCR test at the airports or any entry points in India. Then he/she will have to go for seven days of self-home quarantine. Again on the 8th day, the RT-PCR test will be done, and they can walk free in the country if tested negative.
In any case, the traveller is tested positive during the second RT-PCR test, then he/she has to go for quarantine for the next eight days.
Earlier, the Indian authorities had allowed foreign tourists through chartered flights, and they had to go for 14 days home mandatory quarantine.
In March 2020, when the covid 19 cases had steeped in India, the government suspended visas of all foreign nationals. While in December 2020, the government launched an `air bubble` or `air corridor` scheme with 19 countries such as the USA, UK, France, Germany, Canada, the Maldives, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Nigeria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Japan. This facilitated the stranded passengers in India to leave for their countries, and the Indians who were stuck in these countries might return to India.
