India government is likely to take steps that would apparently erase migration blues of US tourists. Rumours are rife that the Indian home affairs ministry is all set to work on vist on arrival facility for US tourists. The sources close to the prime minister’s office have revealed the same, on the condition of anonymity.
The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi would presumably make the statement after his visit to the US on September 26.
US citizens whose purpose of visiting India on casual meetings or sightseeing would come under the tourist VoA on which the tourism ministry and MHA is reportedly working on. The stay limit would be 30 days for this new proposal which is in process, added the sources.
It may be recalled that when the TVoA scheme was initiated in January 2010, it was introduced for citizens of five countries, however, later the facility was extended to 11 countries.
Despite being the deliberate partners, there is no TVoA facility among the citizens of India and US. Notably, the annual flow of US tourist to India is estimated around 10 lakh.
It has to be mentioned here that Modi would visit US on a five-day whirlwind tour where he will attend the UN General Assembly in New York and then meet the US President Barack Obama at Washington, where both of them would have dialogues on bilateral talks.
The sources even mentioned that Obama would host a dinner for Modi on his arrival, where the dinner meets are always accorded with foreign visitors on state visits, as the dinner meeting would be the first opportunity for Modi and Obama to interact with each other and later stage for the summit meeting on September 30.
The Prime Minister would attend the scheduled business event after the working lunch hosted by the Vice- President before leaving for India on September30. After the ties have cooled between New Delhi and Washington over Devyani Khobragade- who was arrested over the strip search in New York alleged visa fraud case in New York last year-Modi’s visit will provide an opportunity to strengthen the bond and focus on areas of economic, defense, civil nuclear cooperation, and trade and technology.
