Modi government may allow e-tourist visa to Chinese nationals despite warnings from intelligence agencies

By NewsGram Staff Writer

Before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposed China visit in May, India may extend e-tourist visa for the Chinese nationals in spite of a strong opposition from intelligence agencies.

The matter was discussed in a meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary LC Goyal, during which an intelligence agency recommended a cautious approach before taking a final decision.

In 2014, India launched e-tourist visa facility for forty countries but China was not included in that list.

'Though intelligence agency has disapproved the granting of extending e-tourism visas for Chinese citizens, there is a strong possibility of government overriding the intelligence agency's decision, an official said.

The e-tourist visa enabled by electronic travel authorization would enable the prospective visitor to apply for an Indian visa from his or her home country online without visiting the Indian mission and also pay the visa fee online.

The scheme was launched in November 27, 2014 and since then a total of 1, 10,000 visas have been issued by the government under the scheme.

A number of 14,083 tourist visas were issued last year compared to 2700 in December 2013, recording a growth of 421.6 per cent.