Dhaka [Bangladesh], February 22 : Tourist visa services from Bangladeshi diplomatic missions located in India will resume on Monday, a Bangladesh Foreign Ministry official stated on Sunday.
The Bangladesh government had suspended tourist visa services from its diplomatic missions in India due to security reasons. However, after the Bangladesh election, the situation has improved, and the visa service will be fully resumed from Monday.
"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," a Bangladesh Foreign Ministry official said on Sunday.
"Although we did not formally announce it as stopped, we are not formally announcing it as resumed either; in fact, it was ongoing and will now be expanded widely from Monday," the official told ANI.
Additionally, around the election held in Bangladesh on February 12, the Bangladesh government had instructed its missions in India to suspend tourist visas from January 15 to February 15. In urgent cases, visas were issued. Apart from India, due to security reasons, services were also completely stopped for countries such as Bhutan and Nepal. Now, after reviewing the overall situation, all types of visas, including tourist visas, are being fully resumed from all places from Monday.
Indian visa services for Bangladeshis are still suspended--specifically tourist visa services, though some categories remain ongoing.
During the period of the interim government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus, relations between India and Bangladesh had deteriorated. However, after the February 12 election, when the government led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman took office, there are signs of improvement in relations.
At the swearing-in ceremony of the new cabinet after the election, a high-level Indian delegation led by Speaker of India Om Birla participated and met with the Prime Minister.