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The Indian High Commission in Dhaka issued 1.5 million visas to Bangladesh nationals in 2019, the highest for any single country, reports bdnews24.com.
The high commission has celebrated the milestone by handing over visas to three freedom fighters at an event at the Indian Visa Application Centre at Jamuna Future Park in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das handed the visas to the freedom fighters with five-year multiple entry.
“People to people relations, which we call ‘people to people diplomacy’, are very important for the relations between the two countries. The visa issuances have increased through our visa liberalisation process,” Das said.
India issued 1.38 million visas for Bangladesh citizens in 2017 and 1.46 million visas in 2018, a high commission official said.
Around 13.7 million foreign nationals visited India between January 2018 to March 2019, with about 2.87 million from Bangladesh, the highest from any single country.
Replying to a question about the economic benefit of these visits for India, Das said the economic benefit is obvious for both sides. “People go there for shopping on various occasions like the Eid and wedding. Businessmen go and find new avenues and it is the foundation of people-to-people diplomacy.”
India has 15 visa application centres in Bangladesh; nine of them started this year, the high commissioner said.