The Government of India has temporarily suspended all visa services for China due to the outbreak of deadly Coronavirus in Wuhan, China.
The first patient affected by Coronavirus was diagnosed on December 31, 2019. There have been more than 60 thousand cases reported of Coronavirus, majorly in China.
The strain of Coronavirus has also spread to 25 other countries like India, the USA, and the UK. To prevent further escalation of this fatal virus, the other countries are taking some serious actions like suspension of visa services.
Meaning of Temporary Suspension of Indian Visa Services
Almost all the countries including India have suspended visa services for Chinese travelers.
Chinese tourists can apply for an e visa India or the regular Indian visa during normal circumstances. But, The Indian Government on February 2 announced that the visa services by any method will be suspended for Chinese nationals or any other citizen traveling from China.
Moreover, the existing Indian visas of all citizens of the People Republic of China have been canceled to control the spread of Coronavirus. Even citizens from any other nationality living in China cannot apply for an Indian Visa. This rule is applicable to any further updates by the Indian Government regarding the same.
Effect of Indian Visa on International Travellers
Temporary suspension of an Indian visa for Chinese travelers is not going to affect tourists from other foreign countries. The citizens of the remaining eligible countries can still obtain an Indian visa conveniently whether they are applying for a regular visa or for an e-Tourist visa India.
Indian Visas are temporarily suspended only for the citizens of the People Republic of China, foreign nationals residing in China and the people who visited China during the last 2 weeks.
All visas approved for travelers of China before February 2, 2020, are now invalid.
Any citizen having compelling and valid reason to visit India may contact the Indian Consulate Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou.
Effects of Coronavirus in India
The outbreak of Coronavirus was first discovered in Wuhan situated in Hubei, China. Although, China is experiencing the worst outbreak of this fatal virus, there are other countries where the cases of Coronavirus have been reported. 3 cases of Coronavirus have already been reported in Kerala, India, none of which have been proved to be deadly.
As precautions, India stopped visa services for people from China but evacuated more than 600 Indian citizens and 7 Maldivian citizens from Hubei. 324 Indian citizens in the first flight and 323 Indian citizens & 7 Maldivian citizens in the second were evacuated on February 1 and 2 respectively.
Special medical camps in Manesar were prepared for the medical screening of the evacuated citizens and they were made to stay there for 2 weeks.
Thermal screening and medical check-up stations have been set up across 21 Indian airports like Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai by the government to make sure citizens are not affected by this virus.
Declared as a global emergency by WHO, Several countries are taking serious measures to avoid the spread of the life-threatening virus.
