Travelling India and Bangladesh
Multiple entry-exit points likely from next month
Revised RTA is going to be signed during PMs Delhi visit in the 3rd week of December
DEEPAK ACHARJEE
Travellers from Bangladesh and India are likely to be allowed to visit the countries through multiple entry and exit points from January. For this, an amended Revised Travel Arrangement (RTA) is going to be signed during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas visit to Delhi in the third week of December. It would enable travellers of Bangladesh and India to use multiple border points. The senior secretary of the home ministry, Dr Mozammel Haque Khan, raised the issue at the home secretary-level meeting in Delhi on December 5 and 6, and both sides agreed to amend it.
The RTA was signed on January 28, 2013, during the visit by the then Indian home minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde, to Dhaka. The additional secretary (immigration and security) of the home ministry, Mostafa Kamal Uddin, told The Independent that in all likelihood, people of both countries would get the facility from next month (January).
Because of the single entry and exit system at the Indian border points, people of both countries were facing difficulties in arranging their journey. These would be reduced after the RTA amendment is signed. Facilities would be introduced at border points where the required equipment and manpower would be available, he added.
Mostafa Kamal Uddin said the RTA (amendment) would help enhance people-to-people contact and increase tourism, trade, commerce and investment between the two countries.
During the home minister-level meeting on July 30, Bangladeshs Asaduzzaman Khan urged the Indian home minister, Rajnath Singh, to ease visa norms by amending the RTA. The Indian minister promised to consider it.
Talking to this correspondent, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said that Indias Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, during the recent home minister-level meeting, assured him that the existing visa system would be simplified so that Bangladeshis could use any exit points of their choice to return to the country after visiting India.
Rajnath Singh assured us that India will simplify the visa procedure by introducing the electronic system at all the border points of India to facilitate the travel of Bangladeshis to India, he said. Kamal also informed that he proposed to his Indian counterpart to consider on-arrival visas for senior citizens from Bangladesh and that New Delhi promised to consider the issue as early as possible.
At present, government officials of the two countries are getting the facilities of on-arrival visas during their travel to both the countries.
Sources in the home ministry said the Indian authorities are planning to do away with the e-token system for the Bangladeshi people as part of easing the Indian visa system. At present, college and university students of Bangladesh have been getting Indian visas without any e-tokens from October 22.
Students aged a minimum of 18 years and who have enrolled in full-time degree courses in colleges or universities can deposit tourist visa applications on a walk-in basis, without an e-token or a prior online appointment. The Indian high commission in Dhaka had temporarily relaxed visa rules for Bangladeshi women, giving them the opportunity to skip prior appointment or e-token procedures. The Indian government has also been issuing multiple-entry long-term tourist visas for a period of five years to Bangladeshi nationals aged above 65 years. Currently, India issues about 12 lakh visas annually to Bangladeshis.
