"Offensive", "smacks of racism": Tharoor, Ramesh on UK’s new Covid travel policy for India

[OMB]

"Offensive", "smacks of racism": Tharoor, Ramesh on UK’s new Covid travel policy for India

Under the new rules, people flying to the UK from India will be considered unvaccinated, and will have to undergo a 10-day quarantine and Covid-19 tests.

Senior Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Jairam Ramesh Monday spoke out against the UK government’s decision to consider people vaccinated in India, Africa, South America and several other countries as unvaccinated, and make them go through a 10-day quarantine.

Tharoor, Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha MP, has pulled put of a debate at Cambridge Union and withdrawn from the events for the launch of the UK edition of his book “The Battle of Belonging”.

Quoting a thread of tweets by UK news analyst Alex Macheras, Tharoor wrote: “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). It is offensive to ask fully vaccinated Indians to quarantine. The Brits are reviewing!”

Rajya Sabha Congress MP Jairam Ramesh too termed the country’s new travel policy “absolutely bizarre”. Quoting the same thread, he wrote: “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.”

In tweet thread from two days ago, Macheras wrote about the UK’s latest travel policy: “UK government confirm tonight that if a person has been vaccinated in Africa, or South America, or countries including UAE, India, Turkey, Jordan, Thailand, Russia… you are considered “unvaccinated” and must follow “unvaccinated” rules = 10 day home quarantine & tests.”

Under the new rules, people from India flying to the UK have to undergo a 10-day quarantine, during which period they will have to get tested for Covid-19.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/shashi-tharoor-book-launch-uk-travel-policy-vaccinations-7521714/

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Seems like we don't trust the validity of vaccinations from certain countries. I don't think there is any racism at the root of it, just safety of our public must come first.

 

[OMB]

Seems like we don't trust the validity of vaccinations from certain countries. I don't think there is any racism at the root of it, just safety of our public must come first.

he did mention someting about a book launch

 

[DeadlyVenom]

I don't understand why the UK government has done this and it seems rather unfair. However, as we have learned from the incident with the Kiwis in Pakistan, governments should be unquestionably allowed to make unilateral decisions to protect the lives of their citizens.

 

[KingKhanWC]

[MENTION=76058]cricketjoshila[/MENTION]

Joshila bhai how is this being taken in India? Are the BJP government not embarrased by this.

Indians vaccinated will be seen as unvaccinated if entering UK.

This is like a bad bollywood comedy movie.

 

[IMMY69]

5 eyes must have picked up this vaccine threat

 

[KingKhanWC]

5 eyes must have picked up this vaccine threat

India thinks its the 6th hidden eye.

The joy of some Indian citizens when Pak was on the red list but India was an amber. Now they lost for words , confused why being one of the biggest vaccine manufacuters, their people vaccinated means nothing to the UK.

What is the official response from the Indian government or are they still watching PCB live stream?

 

[rhony]

Under the new rules, people flying to the UK from India will be considered unvaccinated, and will have to undergo a 10-day quarantine and Covid-19 tests.

Senior Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Jairam Ramesh Monday spoke out against the UK government’s decision to consider people vaccinated in India, Africa, South America and several other countries as unvaccinated, and make them go through a 10-day quarantine.

Tharoor, Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha MP, has pulled put of a debate at Cambridge Union and withdrawn from the events for the launch of the UK edition of his book “The Battle of Belonging”.

Quoting a thread of tweets by UK news analyst Alex Macheras, Tharoor wrote: “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). It is offensive to ask fully vaccinated Indians to quarantine. The Brits are reviewing!”

Rajya Sabha Congress MP Jairam Ramesh too termed the country’s new travel policy “absolutely bizarre”. Quoting the same thread, he wrote: “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.”

In tweet thread from two days ago, Macheras wrote about the UK’s latest travel policy: “UK government confirm tonight that if a person has been vaccinated in Africa, or South America, or countries including UAE, India, Turkey, Jordan, Thailand, Russia… you are considered “unvaccinated” and must follow “unvaccinated” rules = 10 day home quarantine & tests.”

Under the new rules, people from India flying to the UK have to undergo a 10-day quarantine, during which period they will have to get tested for Covid-19.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/shashi-tharoor-book-launch-uk-travel-policy-vaccinations-7521714/

Can't be too safe these days. There's a talk of third wave coming soon and quarantine is the only way to make sure. It's not racism. There was a travel ban from Europe to USA since March 2020 and that's being lifted now for vaccinated people. I think it's premature. Wuhan virus can only be defeated by curbing travel and by quarantines.

 

[rhony]

India thinks its the 6th hidden eye.

The joy of some Indian citizens when Pak was on the red list but India was an amber. Now they lost for words , confused why being one of the biggest vaccine manufacuters, their people vaccinated means nothing to the UK.

What is the official response from the Indian government or are they still watching PCB live stream?

The efficacy of vaccines goes down after a few months. Also the Indian and Chinese vaccines don't have a 95 percent efficacy as Pfizer or Moderna. It's around 70 percent apparently. So it's a logical choice. This is for India, Africa and South America where Indian and Chinese vaccines were shipped.

 

[KingKhanWC]

The efficacy of vaccines goes down after a few months. Also the Indian and Chinese vaccines don't have a 95 percent efficacy as Pfizer or Moderna. It's around 70 percent apparently. So it's a logical choice. This is for India, Africa and South America where Indian and Chinese vaccines were shipped.

This is no different to Oxford Astrza , which was also produced in India.

Interesting as an Indian you agree with the UK gov deemding vaccinated Indians as unvaccinated.

 

[rhony]

This is no different to Oxford Astrza , which was also produced in India.

Interesting as an Indian you agree with the UK gov deemding vaccinated Indians as unvaccinated.

I'm opposing any travel to USA but the liberal idiots aren't listening. I'm opposed to the right wing nuts as they don't get vaccinated. It's a cesspool. It's difficult to handle internally and outsiders will only cause more issues. The problem with India is two fold. One is the efficacy and the second is a doubt about the authenticity of these vaccine certificates in India.

 

[KingKhanWC]

I'm opposing any travel to USA but the liberal idiots aren't listening. I'm opposed to the right wing nuts as they don't get vaccinated. It's a cesspool. It's difficult to handle internally and outsiders will only cause more issues. The problem with India is two fold. One is the efficacy and the second is a doubt about the authenticity of these vaccine certificates in India.

Interesting. Are you suggesting Indians are fraudulently making vaccine certificates in order to travel?

 

[JaDed]

Unfortunate for grandparents and parents but other than them who are traveling to UK deserve to spend this extra money and ridicule.

 

[RexRex]

There could only be two reasons for this. Either

a) India are producing fraudulent vaccine certificates OR
b) The AstraZeneca vaccine made in India is fake or of low quality.

Which is it, Priti Patel ?

 

[rhony]

Interesting. Are you suggesting Indians are fraudulently making vaccine certificates in order to travel?

Precisely. Asia, Africa and South America tbh. The Chinese lied about the virus for months. Can't expect honesty from those parts of the world. The best way to combat is ban on travel. If you can't impose it, then quarantine is a must. I know a Chinese guy that had a positive and a negative test on the same day and he could travel with the negative test after hiding the positive test. If some one is desperate to travel, let them quarantine themselves for a week or more.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Precisely. Asia, Africa and South America tbh. The Chinese lied about the virus for months. Can't expect honesty from those parts of the world. The best way to combat is ban on travel. If you can't impose it, then quarantine is a must. I know a Chinese guy that had a positive and a negative test on the same day and he could travel with the negative test after hiding the positive test. If some one is desperate to travel, let them quarantine themselves for a week or more.

What makes you think Europeans are more honest? To this day the UK government and mainstream media are IGNORING the evidence this virus came from a lab. I could go on and list dozens of points where they have been deceptive or lying. Or are you ok with this but only have an issue with ordinary people?

 

[Technics 1210]

So glad my government has imposed a limit on the number of Indians migrating to the UK.

Then again, why would Indians flee ‘incredible’ India if Hindustan were so economical prosperous and secular?

Answers on a postcard please, 2nd class stamp accepted.

 

[RexRex]

What makes you think Europeans are more honest?

Maybe he is referring to European institutions, less likely to be susceptible to an individual bribe for a covid certificate.

 

[sharmaji]

Strange this new rule is brought in now. Only a few days ago, a good friend of mine traveled to UK for starting her PhD at Oxford. She said the Indian vaccine certificate (she had two doses of Covishield which is the same as Oxford Astazenca given in the UK) was accepted fine and she faced no quarantine or any such.

In fact, she was surprised at how lax things are in the UK regarding Covid. She said Bangalore had more stringent checks than in Oxford.

I wonder why this new policy has come from UK this week, could it be because of (any?) upcoming third wave?

 

[khan-92]

The efficacy of vaccines goes down after a few months. Also the Indian and Chinese vaccines don't have a 95 percent efficacy as Pfizer or Moderna. It's around 70 percent apparently. So it's a logical choice. This is for India, Africa and South America where Indian and Chinese vaccines were shipped.

Pfizer is not great either check out Israel they already giving 3rd & 4th boosters.

 

[rhony]

Pfizer is not great either check out Israel they already giving 3rd & 4th boosters.

After 6 months, all the vaccines lose most of their potency and hence the need for booster shots. But, Pfizer and Moderna have 95 pc initially after the vaccine is administered. The others have about 70 percent

 

[Yossarian]

Under the new rules, people flying to the UK from India will be considered unvaccinated, and will have to undergo a 10-day quarantine and Covid-19 tests.

Anyone seriously think they're going to be sitting around at home during the quarantine period? They'll be out working, shopping, visiting worship places, seeing friends etc the minute they arrive and put their bags away.

Furthermore, the chances of someone checking up on them, never mind prosecuting them, are around zero%.

 

[cricketjoshila]

[MENTION=76058]cricketjoshila[/MENTION]

Joshila bhai how is this being taken in India? Are the BJP government not embarrased by this.

Indians vaccinated will be seen as unvaccinated if entering UK.

This is like a bad bollywood comedy movie.

No they wont be considered unvaccinated if vaccinated by covishield which is the Indian version of AZ.

Poor you. After you were dancing that a media report said English players will skip ipl playoffs to play in pakistan, but that didn't happen.

Now this.

 

[IndoorCricket]

India's Covishield approved

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...-blog-22-september-2021/liveblog/86413465.cms

 

[irfan]

India's Covishield approved

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...-blog-22-september-2021/liveblog/86413465.cms

apparently still have to quarantine for 10 days because of 'vaccine certification issues'

 

[OMB]

UK recognises Covishield as COVID-19 vaccine; grants no respite to Indian travellers from 10-day quarantine
On Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had hit out at the British government and said that the non-inclusion of Covishield was 'discriminatory'.

London: Days after it drew severe diplomatic flak from India for 'discriminating' against Covishield by not including it in the list of approved COVID-19 vaccines, the UK government, on Wednesday revised its travel advisory said that Covishield qualifies as an approved vaccine. India had threatened that it will reciprocate the same discriminatory protocols if the British government did not recognise the Covishield vaccine.

Despite the approval of Covishield, however, the UK government has denied imparting validity to the Indian vaccine certificate, keeping India in the amber list of countries. This necessarily means that the mandatory 10-day quarantine rule stays for Indians travelling to UK.

"Formulations of the 4 listed vaccines, such as AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and Moderna Takeda, qualify as approved vaccines," the revised advisory on the UK government's official website said. "You must have had a complete course of an approved vaccine at least 14 days before you arrive in England," it further said.

https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/after-drawing-diplomatic-flak-from-india-uk-makes-u-turn-says-covishield-qualifies-as-approved-covid-vaccine/815201

 

[Oxfordchamp]

UK recognises Covishield as COVID-19 vaccine; grants no respite to Indian travellers from 10-day quarantine
On Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had hit out at the British government and said that the non-inclusion of Covishield was 'discriminatory'.

London: Days after it drew severe diplomatic flak from India for 'discriminating' against Covishield by not including it in the list of approved COVID-19 vaccines, the UK government, on Wednesday revised its travel advisory said that Covishield qualifies as an approved vaccine. India had threatened that it will reciprocate the same discriminatory protocols if the British government did not recognise the Covishield vaccine.

Despite the approval of Covishield, however, the UK government has denied imparting validity to the Indian vaccine certificate, keeping India in the amber list of countries. This necessarily means that the mandatory 10-day quarantine rule stays for Indians travelling to UK.

"Formulations of the 4 listed vaccines, such as AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and Moderna Takeda, qualify as approved vaccines," the revised advisory on the UK government's official website said. "You must have had a complete course of an approved vaccine at least 14 days before you arrive in England," it further said.

https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/after-drawing-diplomatic-flak-from-india-uk-makes-u-turn-says-covishield-qualifies-as-approved-covid-vaccine/815201

That was quick..good strong response from the govt.

 

[PakLFC]

It is not racism. UK has the right to do whatever it wants. If they can cancel a Cricket tour to Pak then can do this as well. No, the UK is not madly in love with India or Aishwarya Rai or anything like that! They still see India as a third world country full of poverty and snake charmers.

 

[cricketjoshila]

It is not racism. UK has the right to do whatever it wants. If they can cancel a Cricket tour to Pak then can do this as well. No, the UK is not madly in love with India or Aishwarya Rai or anything like that! They still see India as a third world country full of poverty and snake charmers.

And still the UK PM is desperate for a trade deal.

 

[PakLFC]

And still the UK PM is desperate for a trade deal.

Of course it is coz it benefits the UK!

 

[KingKhanWC]

No they wont be considered unvaccinated if vaccinated by covishield which is the Indian version of AZ.

UK is playing with Indians. They now say yes but you still have to quarantine for 10 days. In real talk, makes no difference.

Poor you. After you were dancing that a media report said English players will skip ipl playoffs to play in pakistan, but that didn't happen.

Now this.

lol. This is not the topic here. Poor me or poor you feeling upset?