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The Group of Seven meeting in London was hit by a COVID-19 scare on Wednesday when India s foreign minister and his entire team said they were self-isolating after two delegation members tested positive.
Britain has hosted the three-day foreign ministers meeting, which has been billed as a chance to restart face-to-face diplomacy and an opportunity for the West to show a united front against threats from China and Russia.
India, currently undergoing the world s worst surge in COVID-19 cases, is attending the G7 as a guest and had been due to take part in meetings on Tuesday evening and throughout Wednesday.
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar’s guest delegation to the G7 meeting of foreign ministers in London made national news for all the wrong reasons when it was forced to go into isolation after two of its members tested positive for Covid-19.
“It’s very embarrassing,” commented a source at the hotel where the delegation is staying. “Maybe they caught it on the flight coming to London that is why they are tested two days after arrival.”
“The Guardian understands all of the entourage tested negative before departing for the UK, but further tests on arrival conducted by Public Health England (PHE) showed two members had Covid,” the paper revealed.
Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images
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toggle caption Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images
Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a news conference with India s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar following a bilateral meeting in London on Monday during the G-7 foreign ministers meeting. Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images
MUMBAI, India India s top diplomat and his entourage have been forced to self-isolate, participating in a G-7 foreign ministers meeting only virtually from hotel rooms near the venue in London after at least two members of the Indian delegation tested positive for the coronavirus.
India is currently battling the world s biggest COVID-19 wave, and is thus on the United Kingdom s Red List, meaning travel from India into the U.K. is restricted. The rules stipulate that while regular Indians are barred from entering the U.K., diplomats may do so, but are required to self-isolate.
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UK and India sign ground-breaking partnership migration deal
The Governments of the UK and India have signed a new landmark migration agreement, which will see both countries benefit from enhanced arrangements on migration issues.
Home Secretary Priti Patel and India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar today (Tuesday 4 May) signed the Migration and Mobility Partnership agreement, aimed at supporting people to live and work in both countries while addressing long standing problems of illegal migration from India to the UK.
The historic agreement delivers on the UK Government’s fair but firm New Plan for Immigration – attracting the best and brightest and supporting people coming to the UK through legal routes, while stopping the abuse of the system and speeding up the removal of those who have no right to be in the UK.
Boris Johnson and Narendra Modi held a virtual bilateral meeting this afternoon
Two leaders pledged to pursue a free trade agreement to double UK-India trade
They agreed to a 2030 Roadmap which will deliver a quantum leap in relations
Meanwhile, UK and India have signed a new partnership migration agreement
Will allow young professionals to live and work for two years in the other country