UK puts India on COVID-19 travel 'red list' after PM Johnson cancels official visit

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LONDON: Britain is adding India to its travel "red-list" after detecting 103 cases of a coronavirus variant first identified in the country, health minister Matt Hancock said on Monday.

"We`ve made the difficult but vital decision to add India to the Red List. This means anyone who is not a UK or Irish resident or a British citizen cannot enter the UK if they`ve been in India in the previous 10 days," Hancock told parliament.

"UK and Irish residents and British citizens who`ve been in India in the past 10 days before their arrival will need to complete hotel quarantine for 10 days from the time of arrival."

The rules come into force at 4 am local time (0300 GMT) on Friday, Hancock said.

Earlier, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson cancelled his visit to India has again due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs informed on Monday.

In response to the media queries on the upcoming visit of the UK PM, the MEA stated, "In view of the prevailing Covid situation, it has been decided by mutual agreement that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom will not visit India next week." 

The official statement added that the two sides will be holding a virtual meeting in the coming days to launch plans for a transformed India-U.K. relationship. 

"Both leaders attach the highest importance to taking the India-U.K. partnership to its fullest potential and propose to remain in close touch in this regard and look forward to an in-person meeting later in the year."