On Thursday, valid visas of the Indians and individuals from UK, Belgium, and Philippines, were suspended as Beijing is following international travel restrictions due to the rise in COVID-19 cases.
At this moment, it is unclear if the four repatriation flights announced by India would go ahead on schedule or not.
Air India had scheduled VBM flights for November 13, 20, 27 and December 4th to China.
The Delhi-Wuhan flight scheduled for November 6th would be pushed to a later date as the Indian Embassy in Beijing has not got permission for clearances from the Chinese authorities.
This restriction would have come into the picture because on October 30, the Air India flight from New Delhi to Wuhan had corona positive patients.
Among them, 19 were asymptomatic and four were symptomatic patients. A couple traveling with a six-year old child are getting treated in the hospital.
According to officers, the Government of India “is in touch with the Chinese side to facilitate essential travel of Indians to and from China.”
Sources said “The announcement made by the Chinese Embassy indicates that the measure is a temporary action and that changes can be expected in a timely manner. The measure is not India specific,” they added.
It is noted that similar measures have been announced in respect of several other countries. The reason behind the measure seems to be Chinese concerns on possible rise in COVID-19 cases globally, aggravated due to the advent of autumn and winter in the Northern Hemisphere.”
They further added saying that this is a temporary suspension. They are not going to banned the future visa applications.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the bar travelers received a notice on the Chinese missions in India, the U.K., Belgium and the Philippines.
The Chinese Embassy in India said it had, because of the pandemic, “decided to temporarily suspend the entry into China by foreign nationals in India holding valid Chinese visas or residence permits” and “the Chinese Embassy/ Consulates in India will not stamp the Health Declaration Forms” that are needed to travel.
The notice added those “with emergency or humanitarian needs to visit China” can submit applications, and entry into China “with visas issued after November 3” is not affected. It said the suspension “is a temporary measurement that China has to adopt to deal with the current pandemic”.
