Bangladeshi diplomatic missions in India will fully restore tourist visa services from Monday, a Bangladesh Foreign Ministry official said.
The Bangladesh government has suspended tourist visa services from its diplomatic missions in India for security reasons. However, with the election of a new government headed by BNP’s Tariq Rahman, visa services will resume from Monday.
While other visa services were continuing, tourist visas were generally suspended except for urgent cases, the official said on Sunday. “Including the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi, and in various cities in India like Guwahati, Agartala, Mumbai and Kolkata – wherever there are Bangladeshi diplomatic missions – apart from tourist visas, other visa services have been mostly continuing. However, tourist visas have generally been discontinued, though they are still issued in urgent cases,” the official told news agency ANI.
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The official added that no official announcement has been made regarding the suspension of tourist visas and therefore they will be resumed without any official transfer. “…It has been ongoing and will now be expanded massively from Monday,” the official told ANI.
The Bangladesh government had earlier directed its missions in India to suspend tourist visas from January 15 to February 15, with services also halted in Bhutan and Nepal around the elections. However, after reviewing the overall situation, tourist visa services are now being resumed.
India to resume visa services in Bangladesh soon: Report
Meanwhile, according to a report by bdnews24, a senior Indian consular official said that India is also preparing to resume all visa services in Bangladesh soon.
“Medical and double-entry visas are now being issued, and steps are being taken to resume other categories, including travel visas,” said Anirudh Das, senior Indian consular officer in Sylhet. Das stressed that efforts are underway to restore all visa services.
The Indian Assistant High Commissioner in Sylhet also emphasized maximum cooperation to strengthen bilateral relations through visa facilitation, saying that relations between the two countries stand on the “foundation of mutual respect and honour.”
