On Thursday, China announced that entry of Indian nationals and foreigners travelling from India will be banned temporarily. Due to coronavirus pandemic, Indians holding valid Chinese visas or residence permits will not be allowed to enter the country. In a statement by the Chinese embassy in New Delhi said that the Indian embassy officers present in China will not stamp on health declaration forms for those who hold certain categories of visa or residence permits.
The statement read, “Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s hereby announced that China has decided to temporarily suspend the entry into China by foreign nationals in India holding valid Chinese visas or residence permits. The suspension is a temporary measurement that China has to adapt to deal with the current pandemic.”
The statement further stated that China will announce making suitable changes in accordance to the ongoing pandemic. “Foreigners with emergency or humanitarian needs to visit China can submit a visa application to the Chinese Embassy/Consulates in India,” it said.
Apart from Indian nationals, entry of UK, Belgium and the Philippines citizens are also suspended in China. However, this decision will not apply to those foreigners who hold diplomatic, service, courtesy and C visas along with visas that were issued after November 3.
This announcement made by China’s embassy is a temporary measure which is expected to change in a “timely manner”. This decision will not affect future visa applications and people can travel to China with visas that were issued after November 3. Yet, Beijing will aid the travel of Indians to and from China on emergency terms.
According to sources, probably the decision was taken as a step due to the “rise in Covid-19 cases globally, aggravated by the arrival of autumn and winter in the northern hemisphere”.
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India is also addressing the issue of running repatriation flights to China under the ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ (VBM), which has been put on hold by Beijing. Earlier the first VBM Delhi-Wuhan-Delhi flight, which was scheduled to operate from November 6, has also been “rescheduled”.
The Indian embassy statement said, “About the planned VBM flight on 6 November from Delhi-Wuhan-Delhi, the embassy has not received the required clearances from the Chinese authorities, who have indicated that more discussions are required to process the clearances. The proposed flight on 6 November is, therefore, being rescheduled.”