Papua New Guinea bans India flights 'indefinitely' in diplomatic spat over COVID breach

Accusing Indian diplomats of "deception" over violation of the COVID-19 protocols, Papua Guinea on Monday, 23 August 2021, banned flights from India indefinitely. PGN’s top official reportedly accused the South Asian nation’s High Commission of breaching the actual number of travellers agreed to board the flight bound for the Melanesian nation amid the Delta variant surge. 

India has helped dozens of unauthorised travellers, some of whom that diagnosed COVID-19 positive into Papua New Guinea, participating in deliberate deception, Police Commissioner David Manning told news agencies, adding that India has sent in more tourists than what was initially negotiated between officials of the two countries. The two nations indulged in a diplomatic spat over the number of passengers that were allowed to travel to the Southeast Asian island. 

The flight, according to reports, was also rejected at least four times by Papua New Guinea over COVID-19 measures before an agreement was reached that permitted 81 travellers to enter into the Melanesian nation. PNG also banned Airline operators CapaJet and Garuda Indonesia were also banned from entering Papua New Guinea airspace "until further notice” over allegations of similar nature. Indian government officials in Port Moresby and New Delhi are yet to hand the clarification about the incident. Among the travellers that tested positive for COVID-19 were Papua New Guinean, Indian, and Indonesian nationals. 

The plane, which was the repatriation charter flight from India arrived in Papua New Guinea via Indonesia with nearly 111 people on board, but the island alleged that there were in fact 30 more people than the agreed numbers. The flight was subject to intense negotiation before it was finally allowed to take off from New Delhi.

“There is now an indefinite ban on any further repatriation flights from India," Police Commissioner David Manning was quoted as saying.

PNG facing 'serious COVID-19 outbreak'

PNG has stringent COVID-19 measures instated amid the deadly surge of the Delta variant. Papua New Guinea’s chief health officers had warned earlier that pacific island had been facing low vaccination and testing rates, which are a ‘recipe for major spread’ of Delta. Dr Daoni Esorom, the deputy controller of PNG’s national pandemic response, had told the press reporters that the country’s low testing rates were resulting in a serious COVID-19 outbreak.