Daijiworld Media Network - London (SD)

London, Apr 11: The UK will be receiving three million paracetamol packets on Sunday from India after New Delhi lifted the export ban amidst the pandemic. The UK government expressed their gratitude for approving this 'important shipment'.

The ministers of state for South Asia and the Commonwealth in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Tariq Ahmad said that it was a symbolic way of cooperatively working through this global crisis by both the countries.

Ahmad said, "The UK and India continue to work in close partnership to respond to the COVID-19 threat. My sincere thanks on behalf of the UK government to India for approving this important shipment."

The shipment is scheduled to arrive on Sunday which also coincides with the UK government's series of charter flights to rescue thousands of British residents stranded in India due to the lockdown.

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

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

The passengers are likely to be flown from Goa, Mumbai, Delhi, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram via Kochi, Hyderabad, Kolkatta and Chennai via Bengaluru in the coming week.

The FCO said that all the travellers will be subjected to check the novel coronavirus symptoms before they board the plane and they would have to undergo mandatory self isolation for the stipulated time.

Nearly 21,000 British nationals are currently residing in India out of which about 5000 will be flown to the UK in 19 chartered flights that are scheduled in the coming week.

Passengers were able to book the flights with a standard payment ranging between 500-600 Pounds, and those facing financial restraints were allowed to access interest free loans to be returned within a period of six months.

The charter flights would be making 'serious inroads'with an aim to carry maximum citizens back to the UK by the end of April.

Given the ban on international flights, the UK government said that it is left to the decisions of the Indian authorities to fly back thousands of Indian citizens stranded in the UK after receiving calls requesting for passenger swap.

The FCO said that the UK government is taking various measures to extend support and cooperation toward the Indians caught up in the UK including extension of visas and safeguarding university accommodation of the students.

COVID-19 fatalities in the UK reached 8000 on Friday and confirmed cases mounted to 65,000.