New travel advisory won't affect movement of Nepalis to India, says Indian Embassy

India's revised travel advisory and visa restrictions related to COVID-19 will not affect the Nepalese movement to India by any means, the Indian mission in Nepal said on Thursday.

India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare 'revised travel advisory' and 'visa restrictions related to COVID-19' announced by India had raised concerns about the movement of Nepali nationals to India as Nepal has been dominantly relying on its southern neighbour for materials of daily consumption as well as employment.

In a statement released late on Thursday, the Indian mission in Nepal said, "The current measures are solely for the purposes of managing public health and safety. These measures do not currently have any impact on normal travel of Nepalese nationals to India, either by air or by existing land routes. Existing travel arrangements for Nepalese nationals will, in other words, remain unaffected."

"However, there will be intensified health inspections at all entry points and any traveller, Indian, Nepalese or from third countries presenting COVID-19 symptoms or with recent travel history to one of seven COVID-19 outbreak countries may possibly be subject to quarantine if so required," the release further said.

Keeping in view the ramifications of the current global spread of coronavirus on public health and safety, New Delhi on Wednesday inducted health safety measures for foreign and Indian nationals entering into and exiting from India.

The measures included halt in visa issuance for tourists and non-diplomatic staffs as set criteria to mitigate the further spread of coronavirus in the country.