Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya today said 96 countries have agreed to mutually recognize Covid-19 vaccination certificates with India.
In a statement, he said that the government is in dialogue with the rest of the world so that the beneficiaries of the world's largest vaccination program are accepted and recognised to ease travel for education, business, and tourism purposes.
Mr. Mandaviya stated, "At present, 96 countries have agreed to mutual recognition of vaccination certificates and also those who recognise Indian vaccination certificates of travelers fully vaccinated with Covishield/WHO approved/nationally approved Covid vaccines".
In return, people traveling from these countries will be provided certain relaxations as given in the Union Health Minsitry's guidelines on International arrivals, issued on October 20, 2021.
The ministry said that the people wanting to travel abroad can download the international travel vaccination certificate from the CoWIN portal.
The United States, Canada, United Kingdoms, France, Germany, Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, Bangladesh, Mali, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Angola, Nigeria, Benin, Chad, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece, Finland, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, Russia, and the Czech Republic are among the 96 countries.
Mr. Mandaviya also said, "The Ministry of Health along with the Ministry of External Affairs is in continuous communication with all countries for mutual recognition of vaccine certificates, and WHO and nationally approved vaccines to facilitate hassle-free international travel across countries".
He further added, "The Union government's commitment to accelerate the pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination throughout the country has resulted in crossing the 100 crore milestone in the administration of doses on October 21, 2021".