80pc of those who queue up for Indian visa are touts, brokers: Pinak
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Around 25,000 of the Bangladeshis who entered India with legal visa each year never returned to Bangladesh, Indian High Commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty said Monday, apparently to deflate complaints about hurdles in the visa-issuance process, reports UNB.
The diplomat has also made yet another bitter observation that over 80 per cent of those who queue up in front of the Indian High Commission in Dhaka for visa are "touts and brokers".
He said he has taken up this issue with the Bangladesh government and the visa process would be easier if these people (touts and brokers) could be driven away from the queue.
Pinak came up with the comments at a conference titled 'Bangladesh-India Economic Relations' at a city hotel where Commerce Minister Faruk Khan was present as the chief guest.
"Around 25,000 Bangla-
deshi people who entered India legally never returned to Bangladesh. We do not know where they go," he told the function in his latest salvo at a time when contentions were yet to die down over his recent remark about the wisdom of the Bangladeshi experts who spoke on India's Tipaimukh-dam project.
Explaining the delays in visa issuance he said the visa-issuing process is little bit time-consuming here as they have to confirm the security first for their own country, because of a chain of violent incidents in India.
Citing the example of Mumbai incident, the Indian envoy said: "We have to confirm our own security first and for that reason the issuing of visa takes a little bit longer time."
The conference was jointly organised by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBBCI) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on the occasion of an Indian trade delegation's tour.
However, Pinak Ranjan said that personally he thinks that the business people of Bangladesh should get three-to-five-year-long multiple visas from his mission.
The diplomat has also made yet another bitter observation that over 80 per cent of those who queue up in front of the Indian High Commission in Dhaka for visa are "touts and brokers".
He said he has taken up this issue with the Bangladesh government and the visa process would be easier if these people (touts and brokers) could be driven away from the queue.
Pinak came up with the comments at a conference titled 'Bangladesh-India Economic Relations' at a city hotel where Commerce Minister Faruk Khan was present as the chief guest.
"Around 25,000 Bangla-
deshi people who entered India legally never returned to Bangladesh. We do not know where they go," he told the function in his latest salvo at a time when contentions were yet to die down over his recent remark about the wisdom of the Bangladeshi experts who spoke on India's Tipaimukh-dam project.
Explaining the delays in visa issuance he said the visa-issuing process is little bit time-consuming here as they have to confirm the security first for their own country, because of a chain of violent incidents in India.
Citing the example of Mumbai incident, the Indian envoy said: "We have to confirm our own security first and for that reason the issuing of visa takes a little bit longer time."
The conference was jointly organised by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBBCI) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on the occasion of an Indian trade delegation's tour.
However, Pinak Ranjan said that personally he thinks that the business people of Bangladesh should get three-to-five-year-long multiple visas from his mission.