Visa services resume at Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi

POBNEWS24, Dhaka, Feb 20, 2026 : The Bangladesh High Commission has resumed visa services in the Indian capital Delhi after being closed for almost two months. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka and the Bangladesh Embassy in Delhi confirmed that Bangladesh visas were issued to Indian citizens there on Friday.
It is said that this progress in diplomatic relations between the two countries occurred three days after the BNP-led government came to power.
All types of visa services for Indians started from Friday morning.
Earlier, on Thursday, India informed that they would resume all types of visa services for Bangladeshis ‘soon’ and a report in this regard has also been sent to Ganashakti.
Amid the deterioration of bilateral diplomatic relations over the death of Inqilab Manch leader Sharif Osman Hadi, both countries suspended visa services last December.
On the night of December 18, two newspaper offices and Chhayanaut Bhaban were attacked in Dhaka after news of Hadi’s death while undergoing treatment in Singapore.
The same night, a group of people protested in front of the Indian Assistant High Commission in Chittagong, and stones were also thrown at the mission.
As a result, the activities of the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) in Chittagong were suspended from December 21 until further notice.
The next day, Bangladesh announced the suspension of visa and consular services from its missions in Delhi and Agartala as a countermeasure.
Meanwhile, the ice between the two countries began to melt with the absolute victory of the BNP in the elections.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Tarique Rahman in a statement on the morning of February 13 before the full results of the 13th parliamentary elections were announced.
Then, after the full results were announced, he spoke to Tarique on the phone in the afternoon. In that phone call, he congratulated him and expressed his support for his work.
On the other hand, Dhaka invited Narendra Modi to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new government. However, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs informed that he would not be able to attend the swearing-in ceremony due to the ‘AI Impact Summit’. However, instead of Modi, India was represented at the oath-taking ceremony by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
Meanwhile, during an interaction with reporters on Thursday, Indian Assistant High Commissioner in Sylhet Aniruddha Das said that all types of Indian visa processes will soon return to ‘normal’.
The day after his announcement, the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi resumed visa and consular services.
It is worth noting that 5,000 to 6,000 Bangladeshi passport holders usually travel to India through the Benapole-Petropole border every day. During festivals or special occasions, this number exceeds 10,000 to 12,000. However, due to the recent diplomatic situation, this number has come down a lot, especially after August 5, 2024, when passenger crossing has almost reached the point of closure. However, some problems arose before August 5, 2024, especially towards the end of 2023.
The number of passengers going to India via the Benapole-Petropole border route decreased. The number of passengers traveling to India has decreased due to problems such as increased travel taxes, lengthy visa procedures, harassment at checkpoints between Bangladesh and India, mistreatment of India-bound passport passengers, physical abuse, and attempts to break the serial number in exchange for money to allow passengers to travel first.