India will drop the pre-departure COVID test requirement for travelers coming from or via China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand and Japan from Monday, the health ministry said, as COVID-19 infections have fallen sharply globally.

The random testing of 2% of all travelers landing in India will continue, the health ministry wrote in the letter dated Feb. 9 to the civil aviation ministry.

India previously mandated that flyers from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand present a negative COVID-19 test before arriving in the country, with the rule in effect from Jan 1.

Travelers from these countries and territories would first have to upload their test reports to an Indian government website before their departure, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya wrote on Twitter at the time.

"This is being done in view of the evolving COVID-19 situation across the world," the health ministry said in a statement, adding that the test should be taken within 72 hours of travel to India.

The High Commission of India in Singapore previously said in late December that travelers from Singapore do not need to undergo mandatory COVID-19 tests when they visit the country, before the rule was changed.