Second case in Kerala; India stops e-visas for Chinese

New Delhi: With a second person having a “travel history from China” testing positive for the coronavirus in Kerala, India — in a major step aimed at preventing the spread of the deadly virus in the country from visiting Chinese or any other foreign nationals from China — on Sunday “temporarily suspended” travel on e-visas with immediate effect from China, making it clear that only those with a “compelling reason” to visit India may apply from the Indian missions in Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou.

In other developments, 323 Indians were evacuated by Air India in the second evacuation flight from Wuhan along with seven Maldivian nationals on Sunday.

The health ministry said: “The second positive case of a novel coronavirus patient has been reported in Kerala. The patient has a travel history from China. The patient has tested positive for novel coronavirus and is in isolation in the hospital. The patient is stable and is being closely monitored.”

It is understood that by suspending travel on e-visas from China, the Indian government will now have the discretion of deciding whom to grant visas to, as there will be a manual interface now at an Indian diplomatic mission if a foreign applicant from China wants to apply for a visa to visit India. In the case of e-visas granted online, such an exercise of discretion would not have been possible which is why the Indian government took this decision, observers point out.

“Due to certain current developments, travel to India on e-visas stands temporarily suspended with immediate effect. This applies to holders of Chinese passports and applicants of other nationalities residing in the People’s Republic of China. Holders of already issued e-visas may note that these are no longer valid. All those who have a compelling reason to visit India may contact the Indian embassy in Beijing or Indian consulates in Shanghai or Guangzhou, and the Indian Visa Application Centres in these cities,” the Indian embassy in Beijing tweeted.

External affairs minister S. Jaishankar tweeted: “Seven Maldivians brought back with 323 Indians from Wuhan on the second Air India  flight today. #NeighbourhoodFirst at work again.” India now has very close ties with the Maldives, which is now led by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.