New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: The central government on Thursday extended the suspension of international commercial passenger services to and from India till 31st January 2022. The government of India issued a circular in this regard titled "travel and visa restrictions related to COVID-19".
The circular states that in partial modification of the previous notification issued on November 26, the concerned authority has decided to extend the suspension of international commercial passenger services to and from India till 2459 hours IST of 31st January 2022.
The restriction is not applicable to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
However, international scheduled flights will be allowed on selected routes by the competent authorities on case to case basis.
The fresh circular comes amid the rise in the cases of the new Covid-19 strain named Omicron which has spread across the world. India has tightened its norms for international passengers to curb the spread of the variant in the country.
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The Central government's travel restrictions include various measures including mandatory RT-PCR tests and quarantine for international passengers. Plus, passengers arriving in India from the 'at risk' countries have to compulsorily undergo RT-PCR tests and they cannot leave the airport or take a connecting flight without obtaining a negative result. Also, international travellers from these countries arriving in India have to undergo additional quarantine measures.
At present, there are 12 countries in India's list of 'at risk countries. These include South Africa, Botswana, China, countries in Europe including the United Kingdom, Brazil, Ghana, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Hong Kong, and Israel. Earlier, Singapore was also included in the list. However, earlier today its name was removed from the list.