Hopeful of starting tourist visa soon: Doraiswami

Indian High Commissioner Vikram Kumar Doraiswami on Tuesday said they want to restart issuing tourist visa as soon as possible, noting that they are waiting to see the Covid-19 situation is normalised with vaccination in Bangladesh and India.

"...Hopefully soon. We would really want to start it,” he told reporters at the High Commission, adding that people will have more confidence with vaccination in Bangladesh and India.

The High Commissioner was talking to reporters after celebrating the Republic Day of India at the High Commission.

The 72nd Republic Day was celebrated at the High Commission of India, Dhaka with members of the Indian community and with social distancing norms in place.

High Commissioner Doraiswami read out message of President of India Ram Nath Kovind.

He said they believe that India and Bangladesh must progress together and even during the Covid-19 situation, they wanted to work as closely as possible with their neighbors, particularly with Bangladesh.

This is why, Doraiswami said, Bangladesh is one of the first countries to receive vaccine from India, both as gift and through commercial procurement.

He hoped that the roll-out of vaccination in Bangladesh would be as fast as possible as he quoted World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying no one can be immune alone from this disease.