Dhaka, Oct 18, 2024, Manir Hossain
The Indian government has once again made it clear that the country will not resume issuing tourist visas to Bangladeshi citizens anytime soon. The visa issuing process remains suspended for nearly two and a half months.
Indian authorities on Thursday stated that until there is an improvement in the "law and order situation" in Bangladesh and a return to a "favorable environment," visa operations will not normalize.
In straightforward terms, it has become abundantly clear that India will not begin issuing tourist visas to Bangladesh in the near future. However, a limited number of medical or emergency visas will continue to be issued.
The country from which India receives the highest number of tourists is not from Europe or America, but rather Bangladesh. In the year before the Covid pandemic, India issued nearly 1.8 million tourist visas to Bangladeshis, setting a record.
Many of these visa recipients visited India multiple times, leading to estimates that between 2 to 2.2 million Bangladeshi tourists visited India during the 2019-20 fiscal year.
In the past two and a half years post-Covid, the influx of tourists was on track to break that record again.
However, since August 5, the visa issuance process has come to a standstill. There have even been protests in Bangladesh in front of Indian visa centres, demanding to know why visas are not being issued or why passports have been held up for days.
Being asked in this regard, Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: "We are issuing limited visas. If someone needs to come to India for medical or urgent reasons, we are providing a limited number of those visas."
He added: "Only when the law and order situation improves and we have a suitable environment for our regular operations will we be able to issue visas as before."
However, in light of the reported recent incidents of idol vandalism during Durga Puja celebrations across various parts of Bangladesh, India feels that the situation has not yet normalized, as indicated by the spokesperson.
He further stated: "I would advise the interim government of Bangladesh to implement the assurances they have given regarding the protection of Bangladesh's religious minorities. Measures should be taken to ensure they feel safe."
Following the political changes in Bangladesh in August, visa operations from many Western countries were also disrupted, but these have gradually returned to normal.
When questioned about this, a source from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said: "Which country perceives what as a favourable environment is their decision. We have no comments on that. However, as long as India does not feel that the situation in Bangladesh is completely normal and safe, there can be no question of normalizing visa operations!"