The Union Health Ministry revised the international travel advisory, providing several exemptions for Indians being evacuated from Ukraine.
Indians heading back to their homeland amid Russia’s invasion will no longer have to submit a pre-boarding negative RTPCR test and COVID-19 vaccination certificate, the ministry’s press release said. They are also not required to upload documents before departure on Air-Suvidha Portal.
Initiated by Ministry of Civil Aviation and Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport, Air-Suvidha is an online self-declaration of a passenger’s current health status and recent travel details.
“In case a traveler is not able to submit a pre arrival RT PCR test or who has not completed their Covid-19 vaccination, they have been allowed to submit their samples on arrival with the advice to continue to self-monitor their health for 14 days after arrival in India,” the press release further read.
The exeptions are made only for Indian nationals.
The ministry stated that as of Monday, February 28, Indians from Ukraine have arrived in India with none of the passengers kept under isolation.
Air India’s fifth evacuation flight came from Romanian capital Bucharest to Delhi on Monday morning with 249 Indian nationals who were stranded in Ukraine, officials said.
India began evacuation of its citizens from Romania and Hungary — neighbouring countries of Ukraine — from Saturday onwards. Tata Group-owned Air India has evacuated a total of 1,156 Indian nationals in five evacuation flights till now. Officials said one more evacuation flight is expected to land in Delhi on Monday.
The health ministry said that direct evacuations of these citizens could not be done because of the Notice to Airmen or Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) issued in Ukraine. However, Indian missions in Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary have been making arrangements to get Indian nationals from Ukraine and fly them out of their respective countries under Operation Ganga Flights.
