Suggests people using the “Help Line” of the Indian High Commission for visa related assistance
The Indian High Commission to Bangladesh has yet to get any official instructions from the Delhi government over the issue of an arrival visa for Bangladeshis, said Indian High Commission, Pankaj Saran.
He said: “Like many others, I came to know about the matter from media reports, but I did not get any official instruction from New Delhi.”
The Indian envoy made the statement while addressing the quarterly luncheon meeting of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) at the Chamber Building in the capital on Monday afternoon.
“There will be an official announcement regarding the matter following an official instruction,” the envoy said, but he was certain that Bangladeshi people would get the privilege like many other nationalities.
He also suggested people using the “Help Line” of the Indian High Commission for visa related assistance.
Recently, the government of Indian has cleared initiatives of visa on arrival (VoA) and electronic travel authorisation (ETA) for tourists from 180 countries, including Bangladesh, US, UK and UAE.
The facilities will be implemented initially at nine airports including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Cochin, Hyderabad, Goa and Trivandrum and are likely to be implemented by the end of the year.
According to ETA, travellers will be able to apply for a visa from their homes and receive an online confirmation in five working days. It will be available for a 30-day period from the date of the tourist’s arrival in India while VoA will also be for the same period for a single entry.
The country currently offers visa-on-arrival to tourists from 11 countries like Finland, the Philippines, Singapore and Japan.
However, tourists from eight ‘prior reference’ countries – Pakistan, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia and Sri Lanka – have been exempted from the facilities and will have to apply for visa through embassy.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
