UK to receive first batch of 3 mn paracetamol packets from India by Sunday

UK will receive a first batch of 3 million paracetamol packets from India by Sunday as it expressed gratitude to Indian government for approving this "important shipment" after New Delhi lifted its export ban amid coronavirus pandemic.

Lord Tariq Ahm, Minister of State for South Asia and Commonwealth in Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), on Friday said shipment is symbolic of cooperative way both countries have been working through this unprecedented global crisis.

" UK and India continue to work in close partnership to respond to COVID-19 threat. My sincere thanks on behalf of UK government to India for approving this important shipment," Ahm said. shipment, set to arrive on a plane by Sunday, will coincide with a series of charter flights laid on by UK government to ferry thousands of British residents stranded in India's coronavirus lockdown.

"We have been working very closely with Indian authorities, here at Indian High Commission in London, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), and at state level in India to put in place all necessary requirements for British nationals wanting to return to UK," Ahm said.

" sheer logistics of this exercise involves every individual who has registered on to our central database being sent detailed information about booking ir seat on flights as well as local support for m to be able to get to airports in particular states, given lockdown and curfews in place," he said.

travellers are set to be flown out from Goa, Mumbai, Delhi, Amritsar, Ahmedab, Thiruvananthapuram via Kochi, Hyderab, Kolkata and Chennai via Bengaluru over coming week. y will be checked for any symptoms of vel coronavirus before being allowed to board charter flights and on landing in UK, y will be subject to same self-isolation and social distancing stipulations as or UK-based citizens, FCO said.

An estimated 21,000 British residents are currently in India, of which around 5,000 are set to be repatriated over this weekend and next week with a total of 19 charter flights confirmed between different cities of India back to London. Passengers are given a chance to book on to se flights at a standard 600-650 pound rate, with those facing financial difficulties given opportunity to access an interest-free loan to be paid back over a six-month period.

British High Commission in New Delhi has said that it is prioritising more vulnerable within nationals registered on its database wanting to return to UK.

charter flights anunced so far are expected to make "serious inros" into repatriating large numbers stranded in India, with an end of April target set for getting majority back to UK.

In reference to some calls for a possible passenger swap on se flights, for thousands of stranded Indians in UK to be flown back to India by return journey, UK government said that is a decision for Indian authorities - given ban on international flights in India.

FCO said in spirit of cooperation it has anunced a series of measures to assist Indians caught up in crisis in UK, including an extension to any expiring visas until end of May and steps to safeguard university accommodation for Indian students. On Friday, total number of COVID-19 fatalities in UK rose to nearly 8,000, while number of confirmed cases climbed to more than 65,000. 

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