NEW DELHI, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Indian government on Tuesday described the British government's decision not to recognize Covishield as a legitimate anti-COVID-19 vaccine as "discriminatory" and warned of reciprocal measures if the matter was not resolved.
India's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said during a media briefing that the country supplied 5 million Covishield doses to Britain at the request of the British government, describing the non-recognition of the vaccine as a "discriminating policy."
"The external affairs minister has raised the issue strongly with the new U.K. foreign secretary. If he doesn't get satisfaction, we would be within our rights to impose reciprocal measures," he said.
India is not included in the expanded list of countries whose vaccines are recognized by Britain.
Shringla said Britain's move impacts Indian citizens traveling to that country.
Indian travelers who have received the required two doses of the Covishield vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) will be considered unvaccinated and will have to undergo self-isolation for 10 days on arrival in Britain with compulsory polymerase chain reaction tests.
Covishield developed by researchers at the University of Oxford and pharma giant AstraZeneca is one of the two vaccines deployed by India.
