Visa-on-arrival not to be extended to Bangladesh blindly, say government sources

“There has been lot of resistance from intelligence agencies as well as certain Northeastern states to not include Bangladesh in the list of countries being extended visa-on-arrival facility. We have decided that it will not be done on a blanket basis. It will be done on a case-to-case basis,” said a top Home Ministry official.

However, including Bangladesh in the list of 150 countries that will be extended the facility of electronic visa-on-arrival (eTV) has been an old proposal of the Ministry of External Affairs, owing to the friendly relations between the two.

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Earlier, the government had announced it would consider giving citizenship to Hindu minorities, who had fled Bangladesh due to religious persecution and were living in India.

“Providing visa-on-arrival to citizens from Bangladesh has been a contentious issue. Both domestic compulsions as well as adverse intelligence reports have gone against the decision. The final decision, however, lies with the PMO,” the official said.

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When the PM visited China last month, he had announced visa-on-arrival for Chinese tourists, even as intelligence agencies raised concerns.

In June 2014, prior to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Bangladesh, the MHA had rejected a proposal from MEA to grant visa-on-arrival facility to the neighbouring country.