POBNEWS24, Dhaka, Nov 9, 2021: Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami made the statement to the media at Akhaura Land Port on Tuesday said, from November 15 Bangladeshi nationals will be able to fly to India on a regular flight and stay a maximum of 30 days if they carry a tourist visa.
After the onset of the coronavirus pandemic last year, India stopped issuing visas of all types to foreigners. As the pandemic ebbed, the Indian government allowed travel to India for business and medical treatment, but kept the border closed to tourists.
Finally, the foreign ministry of India opened travel to tourists in October.
Initially, tourists from Bangladesh were allowed to travel to India only on chartered flights from Oct 15. Now they can travel on scheduled air bubble flights with a tourist visa.
The authorities hope to resume tourist visas to travel to India by road and railway soon, said
“Now we’ll issue a single-entry visa valid for 120 days to use for stays of a maximum of 30 days,” he said.
The high commissioner was travelling to India by road through the Akhaura International Check-Post.
According to the tourism ministry of India, more than 10 million foreign tourists had visited India in 2019, with 2.5 million Bangladeshi nationals at the top of the list.
Among them, 77 percent went for a pleasure trip and 15.4 percent went for medical treatment. India had issued 1.5 million visas for Bangladeshi nationals that year.
At least 54 percent of the foreign visitors seeking medical treatment in India last year were from Bangladesh, said the Indian ministry. Iraqi nationals were in second place with 9 percent, followed by 8 percent visitors from Afghanistan.
The Indian visa application centres in Bangladesh reopened on Aug 11 after a long suspension of service amid the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus infection. Applicants do not need a prior appointment to submit visa applications there.
