Travel ban from France to India on COVID-19 scare

Bengaluru, March 12
City-based French Consulate advised French nationals and travellers from airports in France to avoid travelling to India as such arrivals have been restricted in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak.

"Restrictions have been put by local authorities. Travellers of French nationality or from French airports are no longer admitted to India," said a post on the official Facebook account of the French Consulate Bengaluru on Wednesday afternoon.

The consulate recommended postponing travel to India until further notice.

According to a source from the Consulate on Thursday, the travel advisory has been issued by the French foreign ministry and disseminated by all the consulates and embassy in India.

"This advisory has come from the French Foreign Ministry, we have been asked to post on our website. We have replicated what has been told to us by the ministry to keep the French citizens informed," added the source to IANS.

The official social media account of the French Embassy in India has also posted the same message in French on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the Indian government notified cancellation of all non-official visas to curb incoming traffic and advised against all non-essential travel abroad which also curbs outgoing travel.

All incoming travellers, including Indian nationals, arriving from or having visited China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, France, Spain and Germany after February 15 will be quarantined for a minimum period of 14 days. All these measures are applicable from March 13.