India reopened for overseas travellers on Friday, nineteen months after the country closed its doors to foreign tourists following the outbreak of COVID-19.

Tourist visas would first be issued to those travelling to India on chartered flights, and would be extended from November 15 to people on other flights.

The health ministry will notify tourists of protocols, while tourists must be fully vaccinated and test negative within 72 hours of their flight to be allowed in.

India’s peak tourist season is in the winter months and the easing of restrictions is being seen as an effort to boost the sector which has been hard hit by the pandemic.

Less than three million foreign tourists visited India in 2020, a dip of around 75 per cent compared to the previous year.

New Delhi plans to issue 500,000 free visas to boost tourism, which was expected to incentivise short-term tourists visiting India.

India is second only to the United States in terms of its coronavirus caseload, with over 34 million cases and 451,814 dead.

After a virulent second wave of COVID-19 between April and June that saw a peak of 400,000 daily cases, India has been recording less than 20,000 daily cases in recent days.

Health officials have however advised caution, saying the festival season running from October through November could see a fresh spike in cases.

(NAN)