India warns 'reciprocal measures' on UK vaccine policy

"The non-recognition of Covishield is a discriminating policy and impacts our citizens travelling to the UK. The External Affairs Minister has raised the issue strongly with the new UK foreign secretary. I am told that certain assurances have been given that this issue will be resolved," Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said at a press conference in New Delhi, reported NDTV.

Shringla commented on a day when Foreign Minister S Jaishankar tweeted about discussing the issue with the British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on the sidelines of the high-level 76th session of the UN General Assembly.

UK's new-Covid related restrictions have elicited sharp reactions and criticism.

According to the rules, people inoculated with two doses of the Covishield vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) will be considered unvaccinated and will have to undergo self-isolation for 10 days.

The vaccine has been developed by the University of Oxford and Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca and has been manufactured in India by SII under the name of Covishield.

India's vaccination drive, launched in 2021, January, is driven mainly by two vaccines -Covishield and Hyderabad-based Bharata Biotech and Indian Council of Medical Research joint collaboration - Covaxin - which is pending recognition by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The new rules issued by UK authorities on Covid restrictions will come into effect from next month.

Over the new rules, a British High Commission spokesperson in New Delhi told news agency PTI, "We are engaging with the Government of India to explore how we could expand the UK recognition of vaccine certification to people vaccinated by a relevant public health body in India."