India Cracks Down on Visitor Visas — But Complains if Britain Does Same
India’s hypocrisy on international travel has been revealed once again with the announcement of an extensive crackdown on visitor visas — just months after complaining bitterly about UK visa control systems.
Earlier this year, the Indian prime minister and other senior government figures berated visiting British officials because of delays in issuing hundreds of thousands of visas to throngs of Indians seeking to enter Britain.
Yesterday, however, India announced a tightening of rules for long-term tourist visas which included the barring of visitors from returning within two months of leaving.
Under previous rules, tourists on long-term visas had to leave the country every 180 days. The moves follow security threats to India which focussed around a Pakistani with American citizenship, David Headley, who travelled to India several times to help identify targets for the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
India’s justification for the crackdown is therefore valid — but its complaints about British attempts to control the number of Indians entering Britain smacks of gross hypocrisy. This is especially evident given the large number of patently bogus “student” visas which are granted annually to Indian and Pakistani nationals and runs into the hundreds of thousands each year.
India’s new regulations also make it much harder for people to use long-term tourist visas to work in the country.
Home Minister P Chidambaram set out the case for tightening regulations on Tuesday.
“The gaps in the visa system have been exposed in a number of cases, the most notable among them being the case of David Headley. The compelling need to create a fool-proof system cannot be overstated,” he said.
In a posting on its website, the US embassy in Delhi said the “new visa and registration regulations are being implemented inconsistently.”
“Travellers have reported being denied re-entry after exiting India for business or family emergencies, or for tourist travel to nearby countries, even if their initial visit to India was for only a few days,” the statement said.
“The US mission has received confirmation that foreign passports are now stamped on exit to indicate that the bearer cannot re-enter India within two months of exit unless special permission is obtained from an Indian embassy, consulate, or high commission abroad, regardless of the validity of visa or length of stay in India.”
