96 countries agree to mutually recognise India's COVID vaccination certificates: Health Minister

"Union Government continues to be in communication with the rest of the world so that beneficiaries of the world’s largest COVID vaccination program are accepted and recognized, thereby easing travel for education, business and tourism purposes," the Union Minister said in a statement.

The move will ease travel for those vaccinated with Indian COVID-19 vaccines--Covishield and Covaxin.

The development will provide certain relaxations to people travelling from these countries as enunciated in the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's guidelines on international arrivals issued on Oct 20.

"For those who wish to travel abroad, the international travel vaccination certificate can also be downloaded from the CoWIN portal."

"At present, 96 countries have agreed to mutual recognition of vaccination certificates and also those who recognise Indian vaccination certificates of travellers fully vaccinated with COVISHIELD/WHO approved/nationally approved vaccines," the statement added.

Countries that will recognise India's vaccination certificates are: Canada, United States, Bangladesh, Mali, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Angola, Nigeria, Benin, Chad, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Finland, Estonia, Romania, Moldova, Albania, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Sweden, Austria, Montenegro, Iceland, Eswatini, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, Kyrgyz Republic, Belarus, Armenia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Georgia, The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, Ireland,

Netherlands, Spain, Andorra, Kuwait, Oman, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Maldives, Comoros, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Peru, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Brazil, Guyana, Antigua & Barbuda, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Columbia, Trinidad & Tobago, Commonwealth of Dominica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Nepal, Iran, Lebanon, State of Palestine, Syria, South Sudan, Tunisia, Sudan, Egypt, Australia, Mongolia and Philippines.

The Union Government is in continuous communication with all countries for mutual recognition of vaccine certificates, and WHO and nationally approved vaccines to facilitate hassle-free international travel across countries, the Union Ministry said.