During Trump's India visit there was no requirement of COVID-19 test: Muraleedharan

During US President Donal Trump's India visit in February this year there was no requirement of mandatory COVID-19 test for travellers from foreign countries as the disease was not given pandemic status at that time, said V Muraleedharan, Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs on Tuesday in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

During US President Donal Trump's India visit in February this year there was no requirement of mandatory COVID-19 test for travellers from foreign countries as the disease was not given pandemic status at that time, said V Muraleedharan, Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs on Tuesday in a written reply in Rajya Sabha. While answering 'unstarred questions' on Trump's recent visit, Muraleedharan wrote, "At the time of US President's visit (February 24-25) there was no requirement of mandatory COVID-19 test for travellers from foreign countries. Pandemic status to diseases is given by the World Health Organization, which declared novel coronavirus a pandemic on 11 March."

On whether any COVID-19 tests were conducted on Trump or his staff, Muraleedharan said, "The requirement of mandatory universal screening of all international passengers arriving in 21 airports in India for COVID-19 was implemented by Government of India with effect from 4 March 2020." "Therefore, during US President Donald Trump's visit to India, established norms and protocols for handling such high-level visits were followed by the Government of India," he further wrote.

In February this year, Trump had visited India for the first time after becoming the United States President. (ANI)

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