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Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, has said in a tweet that he is pulling out of an event in the United Kingdom after the country declared that fully vaccinated Indians will still have to undergo quarantine upon landing there.
In a tweet, Shashi 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!”
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! https://t.co/YEVy3Ez5dj
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) September 20, 2021
The UK government has announced relaxation in international travel rules for vaccinated people coming in and out of England. However, fully vaccinated Indians who received Covishield the Serum Institute of India produced Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine would still be required to undergo a pre-departure PCR test and further tests on landing in the UK.
UK government has confirmed that if a person has been vaccinated in Africa, South America, UAE, India, Turkey and a few other nations, they will be considered “unvaccinated” and will have to follow the rules and stay in 10-day home quarantine.
Tharoor’s remarks found support from other Congress leaders Anand Sharma and Jairam Ramesh .
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.”
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. https://t.co/GtKOzMgydf
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) September 20, 2021
Anand Sharma said , the UK government’s decision of not recognising fully vaccinated Indians is “discriminatory, racist and deserves strongest condemnation”.
“Covishield is same as Astrazeneca in UK & manufactured under license by Serum Institute of India and exported to European countries including UK. WHO has approved it too. A humiliation of India — the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer,” Sharma said.
UK Governments decision on not recognising fully vaccinated Indians is discriminatory, Racist and deserves strongest condemnation.
Covishield is same as Astrazeneca in UK & manufactured under license by Serum Institute of India and exported to European countries including UK.— Anand Sharma (@AnandSharmaINC) September 20, 2021
Indian students and citizens are being harassed and fleeced for exorbitant tests, the Congress leader said.
“Urging @PMOIndia to take a stand against UK’s double standards & cancel the proposed India-UK Trade talks,” Sharma said.
