The Indian High Commission in Dhaka canceled the visa applications of more than 20,000 Bangladeshis and returned their passports.
In a report on Monday (September 30), the Indian media Times of India reported this news.
Since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government last August, the Indian visa service for Bangladeshi nationals has been suspended indefinitely, the passports were under the supervision of the Indian High Commission.
According to reports, the Indian High Commission took this decision due to the rise in tension between the two countries after the fall of the Hasina government.
However, later a limited number of emergency visa applications began to be processed. This includes some exceptional visa applications such as: medical emergency, student and double-entry visas required for travel to third countries.
And because of this, many frustrated applicants are e-mailing the High Commission extensively, some of the e-mails even contain threats of vandalism.
The report also said that members of visa application centers are being bombarded with questions and social media platforms have become an outlet for people to vent their grievances.
According to the Times of India, Bangladesh is an important visa applicant country for India. In 2023 alone, India issued visas to about 1.6 lakh Bangladeshi citizens, of which about 450,000 visas were issued for medical purposes.
However, due to the growing tension between the two countries, the High Commission is taking steps with caution. Extreme caution is being exercised in issuing temporary visas. Because there have been some cases of misuse of visas. There is evidence that travelers on medical visas have traveled to India for purposes other than healthcare.
Since the number of diplomatic missions of other countries in Bangladesh is limited, Bangladeshis often depend on India for visas to other countries, including Europe. Now that Durga Puja is approaching, there are fears of an increase in visa applications to attend the festival in West Bengal.
However, the governments of both countries are trying to normalize the situation.
