G20 delegates arriving in India exempted from 2% random Covid testing rule: Govt

Delegates and participants arriving in India to participate in G20 events in the country will be exempted from the 2 per cent random Covid testing rule for international arrivals, according to a top government official.

"This has been noted on the request of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to the Ministry of Health Family and Welfare (MoHFW) and the Ministry of Civil Aviation has been asked to inform all stakeholders at airports," the official told ANI

The Government of India has decided to exempt the delegates and participants arriving to attend the G20 meetings in the country till November 2023, from 2 per cent mandatory random Covid-19 testing at the airports, a top government official said.

India is hosting the G20 summit this year after taking over the presidency of the G20 Forum from Indonesia.

The MEA had on Wednesday requested the aviation ministry for this exemption on Wednesday to grant this exemption till November 2023

The ministry of civil aviation (MoCA) has informed all airports and their operators, the official said.

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India's Health Ministry recently issued an advisory to all the stakeholders to mandate 2 per cent random Covid-19 testing for international passengers as a sudden global surge in the cases of coronavirus infection was reported.

As per the issued advisory, the passengers arriving in India from designated high-risk countries [China, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand and Japan] would have to fill out an Air Suvidha form along with a negative RT-PCR report iwth 72 hours of their arrival in India .

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has termed the G-20 presidency as "a big opportunity for India".

All the G20 countries-- Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union-- are set to attend the meetings and events in India.