In Sign Of Easing Ties, India To Restart Tourist Visas For Bangladeshis

In what indicates an easing of tension between Dhaka and New Delhi, India has announced the resumption of tourist visas for Bangladeshi nationals.

"I am happy to announce that we are resuming our normal visa operations for tourist visas. Applications for tourist visas can be submitted from Sunday, 28th of June 2026," the newly appointed Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Dinesh Trivedi, said.

"We will continue to facilitate medical visas in urgent cases on humanitarian grounds," he added.

The envoy said that initially, the visas will be issued from five cities and later the service will be extended to other centres.

"Visas will continue to be issued through the five centres in Dhaka, Rajshahi, Chattogram, Sylhet and Khulna. We will further scale up our operations in other cities gradually," he announced.

The announcement is expected to provide relief to thousands of Bangladeshi travellers seeking to visit India for tourism, business and family purposes, while also reinforcing bilateral exchanges between the two nations.

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Trivedi described the move as his first task after officially presenting his credentials to the President of Bangladesh. "We hope that this will further strengthen the people-to-people ties between our two sovereign nations," he added.

Dinesh Trivedi Appointed As New Bangladesh Envoy

Dinesh Trivedi had arrived in Bangladesh via the Benapole-Petrapole land border from West Bengal on June 12, 2026.

Trivedi succeeds Pranay Kumar Verma, who served as Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh for four years until May this year.

In a statement, the Indian High Commission in Dhaka said, "The High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh, Shri Dinesh Trivedi, presented his credentials to Hon'ble President of Bangladesh, H.E. Mohammed Shahabuddin, at Banga Bhaban today. The High Commissioner conveyed greetings from the Government and people of India and reaffirmed India's commitment to further strengthening the multifaceted India-Bangladesh partnership for the mutual benefit of the peoples of the two sovereign countries."

Briefing reporters after the meeting, the Bangladesh President's Press Secretary, Sarwar Alam, said the President welcomed the newly appointed Indian High Commissioner and expressed hope that his tenure would contribute to making Bangladesh-India relations stronger.

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Bangladesh President Shahabuddin said he attaches special importance to its relations with India as its closest neighbour and an important trade and development partner.

Earlier, the Government of India granted Trivedi status equivalent to a Union Cabinet Minister.

"Trivedi has been assigned the equivalent status of Union Cabinet Minister in the Table of Precedence (ToP) as a measure personal to him, without amending the Table of Precedence," said the Ministry of Home Affairs' order.

"The position in the Table of Precedence is for ceremonial functions only," it added.

Trivedi takes charge as High Commissioner to Bangladesh at a time when India is working to improve relations with Bangladesh, even as certain bilateral issues continue to remain tricky to handle.

"Democracies are bound to have issues and disputes, and such differences should be resolved through interactions and dialogue," Trivedi had said after arriving in Bangladesh on June 12.