India, Bangladesh officials meet to expedite visa issues between the countries

In a bid to expedite the visa clearance facilities, senior officials of India and Bangladesh met and reviewed the situation.

The meeting that took place in Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya State, recently discussed in detail the need for improving visa clearance facilities as to make the clearance faster.

For this, Bangladesh proposes to strengthen its existing Consulate in Agartala.

In addition to this, India’s foreign ministry has approved setting up another Bangladesh Consulate in Guwahati.

It also reviewed the progress of the passenger bus services between the two countries.

The meeting also discussed issues like improving passenger amenities on both sides. A demand for adding a stoppage in Bangladesh on the Kolkata-Dhaka route and the issue of rationalising fares were also taken up in the meeting.

Transport Commissioners and representatives of Transport Corporations of Assam, West Bengal, Tripura and Meghalaya, and officials of Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, External Affair and BSF attended the meeting from the Indian side. The Bangladesh officials included Joint Secretary, Road Transport Ministry and officials from Ministry of Foreign Affair and Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation.

Bus operators from both countries were also present in the meeting. The objective of the meeting was to take stock of the bus services plying on four routes between the two countries, and bring in improvement wherever possible to facilitate smooth and comfortable movement of passengers.

This review meeting was the first of its kind since the earliest protocol was signed between the two countries in 1999 to start a bus service between Kolkata and Dhaka. The next review meeting has been scheduled for the last week of June in Guwahati.

The bus service between Kolkata to Agartala via Dhaka, Dhaka to Guwahati via Shillong, Kolkata – Dhaka and Agartala-Dhaka are currently in operation between the two countries.