India to ease visa norms to lure visitors from ASEAN

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Ananth Baliga

India is looking to ease its visa regime for ASEAN nations in a bid to increase Buddhist tourist arrivals – travellers looking to visit Buddhist heritage sites – to the country, India’s vice president said. Speaking during a visit to Thailand last week, Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari said the shared heritage of the region – the rise of Buddhism in India and its spread to Southeast Asia – was a focus area for the South Asian nation’s engagement with the region, though he did not elaborate on the details of this proposed visa liberalisation.

“In consideration of these links, India is considering the feasibility of liberalising our visa regime for ASEAN countries to facilitate Buddhist tourist arrivals,” he said. Cambodians already have easy access to Indian visas, with business travellers having to pay no visa fees to visit the country, said N Sitlhou, the first secretary at the Indian Embassy in Phnom Penh.

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