A top Indian virologist has resigned from a forum of scientific advisers set up by the government to detect variants of the coronavirus, he told Reuters, weeks after questioning the authorities' handling of the pandemic.

Shahid Jameel, chair of the scientific advisory group of the forum known as the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genetics Consortium, declined to give a reason for his resignation. "I am not obliged to give a reason," he said in a text message, adding that he had quit on Friday.

Asked why the government did not respond more forcefully to the findings, for example by restricting large gatherings, Jameel told Reuters that he was concerned that authorities were not paying enough attention to the evidence as they set policy.