Covid: No global travel ban on India due to Covaxin, says Javadekar

The BJP on Saturday slammed former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath for allegedly linking a coronavirus variant with India and accused the Congress of making frequent statements to "insult" the country and weaken its fight against COVID-19.

Senior BJP leader and Union minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters that the Congress was not playing the role of a responsible opposition and had instead fallen to doing negative politics.

He alleged that Nath used the term "Indian corona" during an interaction and noted that even the World Health Organisation (WHO) has clarified that any variant is not named after any country.

Javadekar said, "He (Nath) did not stop there and said 'hamari pahchan mera Bharat covid'... This is an insult to India. Many Congress leaders are making such statements. Many leaders said this is an Indian variant."

Responding to Congress president Sonia Gandhi's letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to ensure the assured supply of essential medicines for the treatment of mucormycosis (black fungus) and cost-free care to those affected, Javadekar said India has brought medicines from abroad also and is providing states with adequate supply.

He accused opposition leaders of spreading doubts and fear among people, and said they had done it when Covaxin, an indigenous vaccine against COVID-19, was launched.

Now it is being claimed that those having Covaxin jabs will face travel ban because it is not listed in other countries, Javadekar said.

"As far as I know this process is on, and the WHO has not taken any such decision," he said.

Statements from the Congress have not only insulted the country but also worked to weaken the fight against the pandemic, the Union minister alleged.

"Sonia Gandhi should tell as to why the Congress is doing such negative politics and why has she not condemned Kamal Nath's remarks," Javadekar said.