Japan will from Friday indefinitely bar foreign nationals with residence status from re-entering the country if they have stayed in India, Nepal or Pakistan within 14 days prior to their return, the government said on Wednesday.

The move is aimed at keeping out the highly infectious variant of the coronavirus that first appeared in India and is now tearing through its population in the world's worst current wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Japan's decision will essentially shut the door to all travellers from India and its neighbours Nepal and Pakistan except for returning Japanese nationals, as the entry of all other foreigners has already been halted.

Japan itself is struggling with a fourth wave of the pandemic, with little more than two months left to the scheduled opening of the Tokyo Olympics on July 23.

India's coronavirus death toll crossed 250,000 on Wednesday in the deadliest 24 hours since the pandemic began.