Assam-Delhi row on Bangladesh visa issue

India’s external affairs ministry has rejected Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s allegation that India was thinking of allowing Bangladeshi nationals entry without visa if they were aged over 70 or under 10, reports Kolkata’s ‘Telegraph’ newspaper. Gogoi made the allegation at two media briefings in three days. ‘We have seen reports regarding a decision on the entry of Bangladesh citizens into India without visas,’ foreign ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told The Telegraph. ‘We want to clarify that no such decision has been taken, nor is any such proposal under consideration.’ India has been contemplating a visa-on-arrival plan for select Bangladeshi visitors since January last year, when the UPA was in power. Indian and Bangladeshi officials insist that the old plan, with minor tweaks, is the sole plan they have been discussing ahead of foreign minister Sushma Swaraj’s first foreign trip, to Dhaka on Wednesday (June 25). But the summary record of a meeting chaired by foreign secretary Sujatha Singh refers to the visa relaxation suggestion as an idea for ‘grant of visa-free entry’ to select Bangladeshis. ‘I have record of the move (visa-free entry),’ Gogoi said, adding ‘I am totally opposed to it,’ according to bdnews24.com.