Commerce Ministry’s visa plan runs into MHA wall
The Union Commerce Ministry has proposed an ambitious scheme to waive the visa requirement for business visitors and tourists from 18 countries, which are considered critical to economic and trade strategy, but the Home Ministry has raised objections to an omnibus exemption.
The 18 countries belong to BRICS, in which India joins Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa and the Asia Pacific group that is part of the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), senior officials in the two Ministries told. China is a member of both groups.
In the services trade, India’s strength lies in its large pool of skilled workers and independent professionals. The Commerce Ministry is, therefore, keen that as part of the strategy, internal reforms are undertaken unilaterally to enable easier temporary movement of such persons from its trade partner countries. This will make it possible to later demand the same facility from them reciprocally.
Security concerns
The Home Ministry’s major objection is giving a visa waiver to Chinese citizens as part of the package, an official in the Ministry said. Security concerns have been cited in the case of visitors from China and Pakistan.
RCEP is a proposed mega regional Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between 16 Asia Pacific countries, and its members include the ten Association of South East Asian (ASEAN) nations, China, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India.
The Commerce Secretary, Rita Teaotia, wrote to Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi in April in the context of services negotiations under RCEP that, “visa waiver for business visitors and tourists is very important, given our stakeholders’ feedback regarding the time-consuming onerous visa application processes which deter business travellers and tourists.”
The letter, a copy of which is available, added that there was merit in proposing something similar for the BRICS group.
Fee waiver
A fee waiver for all visa categories has also been proposed by the Commerce Ministry. “In case of business visitor, visa fee can still be charged, but 5-10 years multiple entry visa with prior screening should be a must have,” the letter says.
The letter contends that relaxation of the visa procedure for foreign business visitors will contribute towards making India an attractive destination for investors from RCEP countries, keeping in mind the ‘Make in India’ policy.
The Commerce Ministry’s proposal is to boost India’s services trade and help earn foreign exchange. The Home Ministry has conveyed it could consider visa waivers for business, tourism and healthcare purposes initially for citizens of India’s FTA partner countries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday addressed the ASEAN business summit in Kuala Lumpur and said the "21st century belongs Read more
KUALA LUMPUR: With slew of measures putting back the economy on track, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said reforms Read more
India and Malaysia will deepen cooperation in security and defence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today as he emphasised that Read more
KOLKATA: Engineering firms from the SAARC regions like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka increasingly look at India for meeting their sourcing Read more
