India on Wednesday further relaxed guidelines for international travellers by allowing fully vaccinated passengers from 11 countries, including Britain, France and Germany, to leave the airport without the need to undergo tests or home quarantine. 

The government on Wednesday issued revised guidelines — valid from October 25 — for international arrivals at a time when it is encouraging a gradual restart of global tourism just in time for the tourist season during winters.

“…The travellers from all such countries which provide quarantine-free entry to Indians are allowed certain relaxations on arrival,” the guidelines said.

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Such countries have been marked as ‘Category A’ which comprise Britain, France, Germany, Nepal, Belarus, Lebanon, Armenia, Ukraine, Belgium, Hungary and Serbia.

These countries have an agreement with India on mutual recognition of vaccination certificates of nationally recognised or WHO recognised vaccines or exempt Indian citizens fully vaccinated with nationally recognised or WHO recognised vaccines.

Fully vaccinated travellers arriving in India from ‘Category A’ countries will be allowed to leave the airport without any post-arrival tests or mandatory home quarantine. The revised guidelines will be valid from October 25.

Partially vaccinated or unvaccinated travellers will have to submit a sample for post-arrival Covid-19 test, undergo home quarantine for seven days and get a re-test done on the eighth day of arrival in India and self-monitor health for another seven days.

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“If a traveller is coming from a country excluding those covered under Category A, they would be required to undergo the measures as mentioned above, irrespective of their Covid-19 vaccination status,” the guidelines state.

All travellers to India will have to upload a self-declaration form and a Covid-19 negative test report on the Air Suvidha portal and airlines have been asked to ensure the availability of the report before allowing a passenger to board the aircraft.

Additionally, the government has identified all European nations, including Britain, and eight other countries –South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand and Zimbabwe as ‘countries at risk’. Travellers from these countries to India will have to follow the additional measures, including post-arrival testing.

However, fully vaccinated travellers from ‘at risk countries’ that feature in ‘Category A’ will be allowed to leave the airport without any additional test or mandatory home quarantine.

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