Sandeep Dikshit
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 5
Hours after an in-person meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UK Home Secretary Priti Patel in London, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar confirmed a UK media report that two members of his delegation had isolated themselves after testing positive for Covid.
The minister and the delegation members were tested in India on Sunday and found Covid negative, said sources, who could not confirm whether they were tested on landing in London.
“There is concern the EAM might have been exposed to the virus. We will go by the British health authorities’ tracking and testing system. We are concerned about our delegation. We are happy all are fine,’’ sources said.
Soon after a UK media outlet broke the story about two members of the Indian delegation invited to attend G7 conclave of foreign ministers, Jaishankar conceded that he was made aware on Tuesday evening of exposure to possible Covid-positive cases.
Sources here said the four members of the delegation had isolated themselves and were hale and hearty. “It is not a straight-forward case. We are trying to work out with the UK health authorities about the level of exposure,” said the sources.
“The travel plans of the delegation back to India will depend on exactly what the UK health authorities will say,” they added. Jaishankar has cancelled all in-person meetings and decided to continue the rest of his engagements through the virtual mode.
The UK media has now started raising doubts about the genuineness of the Indian delegation’s Covid-negative certificates even as further tests have been sought. “As a measure of abundant caution and also out of consideration for others, I decided to conduct my engagements in the virtual mode. That will be the case with the G7 meeting today as well,’’ Jaishankar posted on social media.
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