Visa on arrival for Chinese soon

New Delhi: India is considering extending the tourist visa-on-arrival facility to Chinese citizens. There is a possibility of an announcement on this before Prime Minister Narendra Modi goes to China in May.

The matter was discussed at a high-level meeting chaired by Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday, where the security agencies expre-ssed some reservations, and suggested a cautious approach before a final decision. One of the reasons they cited was the frequent issuance of stapled visas. It is, however, possible that their objections might be overruled at the highest political level.

Tourism minister Mahesh Sharma, who was also present, said, however, that a decision on whether to extend the facility to China, Britain, France, Italy and Canada would be taken soon.

“We have suggested to the home minister that extending the tourist visa-on-arrival facility to citizens of 40 countries has led to a quantum jump in tourist arrivals. The home minister accepted the proposal for extending the facility to five more countries for discussion,” the tourism minister added.

The home minister has now set up a committee headed by additional secretary in the ministry B.K. Prasad, to examine the proposal of extending the tourist visa-on-arrival facility to the five countries. One joint secretary each from the ministries of home, tourism and civil aviation would be the member of this committee, sources said. Last year, India had launched a visa-on-arrival facility for more than 40 countries, including the US. But, China was not on the list.