Bangladesh to fully restore tourist visa services for Indians from Monday

The Bangladesh government had suspended tourist visa services from its diplomatic missions in India due to security reasons.

Bangladesh diplomatic missions in India will fully restore tourist visa services starting Monday, a Bangladesh foreign ministry official said.

The official on Sunday said that while other visa services had been ongoing, tourist visas had generally been stopped except for urgent cases. (Unsplash/ Representational)

The Bangladesh government had suspended tourist visa services from its diplomatic missions in India citing security reasons. However, with the election of a new government under Bangladesh Nationalist Party's Tarique Rahman, the visa services will be resumed from Monday.

The official on Sunday said that while other visa services had been ongoing, tourist visas had generally been stopped except for urgent cases. “Including the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi, and in various cities of India such as Guwahati, Agartala, Mumbai and Kolkata — wherever Bangladeshi diplomatic missions are located — apart from tourist visas, other visa services were mostly ongoing. However, tourist visas had generally been stopped, though they were still issued in urgent cases,” the official told ANI news agency.

The official further said that there had not been any official announcement regarding the halting of tourist visas, and therefore they will be resumed without any formal conveyance. “…It was ongoing and will now be expanded widely 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 being halted in Bhutan and Nepal around elections. However, after reviewing the overall situation, the 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 India is also preparing to resume all visa services in Bangladesh soon.

“Medical and double-entry visas are being issued now, and steps are under way to resume other categories, including travel visas,” Aniruddha Das, India’s senior consular official in Sylhet, said. Das asserted that efforts were underway to restore all visa services.

The Indian assistant high commissioner in Sylhet further assured of maximum cooperation to strengthen bilateral ties through the facilitation of visas, saying relations between both countries stand on the “foundation of mutual respect and honour.”