India: PM Narendra Modi's visit to UAE postponed amid Omicron scare

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been postponed amid global concern over the highly-contagious Omicron variant of coronavirus.

The Prime Minister was scheduled to visit the Gulf nation on January 6, sources said. This was supposed to be his first foreign trip in 2022.

PM Modi's visit to the strategically important country was planned as the two countries were looking at celebrating 50 years of their diplomatic ties.

The rising cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, which is more transmissible than the Delta strain, have triggered an alarm across India and the world.

The Delta strain was responsible for the deadly second wave of infections in the country in April-May this year when lakhs of people succumbed to the disease and the healthcare system was pushed to the verge of collapse.

India has reported nearly 800 cases of the new strain since the detection of Omicron in South Africa in November's last week.