India resumes tourist visas for Bangladesh from June 28 after two-year suspension. The step follows the BNP election win and signals a cautious rapprochement.
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India will resume issuing tourist visas to Bangladesh nationals from June 28, Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi announced Thursday. The service will open at five centres – Dhaka, Rajshahi, Chittagong, Sylhet and Khulna – with expansion to additional cities planned later.
“We hope this will further strengthen the people-to-people ties between our sovereign nations,” Trivedi said at the Indian Visa Application Centre in Dhaka.
The resumption restores a channel suspended in August 2024, when violent protests after the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led to attacks on Indian diplomatic facilities. The Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre in Dhanmondi was ransacked and set on fire. Five visa application centres came under assault. Indian personnel faced threats. The High Commission scaled back operations sharply.
Medical visas continued throughout. India processed more than 1,500 visas daily across all categories except tourist, with priority for emergency cases. Trivedi said the High Commission kept the five centres operating despite security challenges to meet humanitarian needs.
The visa decision is the most concrete step yet in a cautious rapprochement. Relations between New Delhi and Dhaka soured after Hasina’s ouster and the installation of an interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus. The February general election was won by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party under Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. India sent Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to the inauguration, a signal of willingness to restart engagement.
Trivedi himself is a signal. He is the first political appointee to serve as High Commissioner to Dhaka in nearly five decades. New Delhi gave him the equivalent status of a Union Cabinet minister. He entered Bangladesh by road through the Petrapole-Benapole border on June 12. He succeeds career diplomat Pranay Kumar Verma.
Trivedi is a former member of parliament from West Bengal’s Barrackpore and served as a Union minister under Manmohan Singh. His appointment underscores the importance India places on the relationship with Dhaka.
The resumption removes a practical barrier to cross-border travel. Bangladesh is one of India’s largest export markets in South Asia. Easier movement of people typically supports commerce and investment. Full normalization – including high-level visits and trade negotiations – will take longer. The visa decision is a concrete step.
The five centres open Sunday. Expansion to additional cities is the next marker. For now, the re-opening of tourist visas is the most tangible sign that both governments are ready to rebuild ties.
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