India to resume tourist visa services for Bangladeshi travelers from June 28

The decision completes the reopening of all major visa categories between the two countries and follows months of diplomatic rebuilding under Bangladesh's BNP-led government

India will start issuing tourist visas to Bangladeshi citizens again from Saturday, June 28, bringing an end to a freeze that has been in place for nearly two years. The country's newly appointed High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Dinesh Trivedi, confirmed the decision at a press conference in Dhaka on Thursday, according to the Anadolu Agency.

The resumption is a major step in the relationship between the two South Asian neighbors, reopening one of the highest-traffic land border crossings anywhere in the world and completing the restoration of all major visa categories between India and Bangladesh.

Why the freeze happened

New Delhi pulled the plug on tourist visas in July 2024 after political turmoil in Bangladesh led to the removal of the Awami League government. During the 17-month interim government that followed, India continued processing only a narrow set of visa types, most notably medical visas, while keeping tourist travel shut down.

What changed

The diplomatic picture shifted after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) took power under Prime Minister Tarique Rahman earlier this year. Since then, both governments have been working to patch things up through fresh rounds of diplomatic engagement, senior-level meetings, and a gradual lifting of visa restrictions on both sides.

On the Bangladeshi side, Dhaka resumed issuing all visa categories to Indian nationals back in February. That decision came after a temporary suspension of consular services at Bangladeshi missions in India, which was triggered by incidents in which Bangladeshi embassy and consulate buildings in India were targeted.

Border tensions persist

The thaw in visa relations has not erased all friction between the two neighbors. Tensions continue to flare along their shared 4,000-kilometer (2,485-mile) border. Bangladesh has repeatedly objected to what it describes as Indian border guards physically turning back Bangladeshi citizens who attempt to cross, arguing that these actions go against the formal processes both countries had agreed to follow when handling repatriations.

Despite those ongoing disputes, the restoration of tourist visas signals that both governments are committed to keeping the diplomatic momentum moving forward, even where disagreements remain unresolved.