The recent weeks have taught India a lot. The world is not as understanding, kind and accepting of India’s successes as was earlier being thought. Countries like the United Kingdom made it clear that India’s centralised digital system for handling Covid-19 vaccinations was not trusted by them, and that somehow, handwritten and scribbled physical certificates carried more weight for them. To send a message across, that India would not take racism directed towards its citizens lying down, despite them being fully vaccinated; the Modi government has come up with a tit-for-tat tourism policy that hinges on the ability of foreign nations to treat Indians with respect and with dignity.
Now, India is all set to treat foreign tourists based on how their nations treat Indian travellers. As India looks to restart tourist visas and allow international tourists after a gap of one-and-a-half years, “reciprocal tourism” is set to become the new normal. The visa facilitation will depend on the applicant’s home country’s policy for the Indian tourists. Any incoming international tourists might have to show their Covid-19 vaccination certificate or undergo a quarantine period or face rejection, which will depend on how they treat Indian tourists visiting their country.
Hence, the officials concerned will have to scrutinize each application based on the latest rules, instead of a standard one, that was applicable 18 months ago when the tourist visas were first withdrawn given the coronavirus pandemic. A top official of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) told news agency ANI that to iron out all the issues emerging from such a situation, a meeting was held last week, which was attended by representatives from all concerned agencies, which was chaired by the Union Home Secretary.
A final call on the issue will be taken in the next meeting that will be chaired by the Cabinet Secretary. India is keen to open itself to foreign tourists completely by January 2022.
Impact on Foreign Tourists
Foreign tourists now know that when they travel to India, their hospitality in the country will depend solely on how Indian tourists are treated by their government when they travel to their countries. If Indian tourists are required to mandatorily quarantine for 10 or more days, those travelling to India from such countries will also be subjected to the same quarantine period. India will treat foreign tourists based on how their countries treat Indians, and this is a rather motivational incentive for all countries to ensure that they do not try to strongarm tourists from India.
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Already, India has announced that the first five lakh foreign tourists will be issued visas free of cost. This is being done in an attempt to revive tourism, but given the world’s discriminatory practices, has forced India to employ reciprocal measures which send a resounding message across. The free visa will be issued till March 31, 2022, or on a first-come-first-serve basis, whichever is earlier. Before the suspension of tourist visas, nearly 7-8 lakh tourists used to come to India every month.
The UK’s Misadventure
The United Kingdom recently passed a confounding rule stating that Indian travellers who had received both doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca developed Covishield vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) will be considered unvaccinated. To add insult to injury, the rule adds that double vaccinated Indians will have to undergo mandatory hard quarantine for 10 days.
The UK still considers itself the ruler of the world, by which, it can discriminate against entire countries and their people without much cause to account for. However, the world is well past the UK’s colonialism, and India has made the same resoundingly clear to London. The UK’s bizarrely racist vaccine recognition and quarantine policy has infuriated New Delhi, and Indians at large. It not only smacks of a false sense of supremacy but also seeks to discount India’s massive vaccination campaign as being inferior and non-reliable to the Western world.
So, India slapped London with reciprocal measures targeting travellers from the UK to India. Now, they have to undergo the same shenanigans which London is forcing Indians to suffer despite being fully vaccinated.
By ensuring that foreign tourists are exactly treated in India that their countries treat Indians, the Modi government is forcing foreign governments to think twice before taking any discriminatory and overreaching decisions.