Question : Visa Free Access


(a) the total number of countries providing visa free access to Indian citizens;

(b) the total number of countries offering visa on arrival access to Indian citizens;

(c) the total number of countries to which Indian Government offers Visa free access for its citizens;

(d) Whether the Government has made any provision to offer rebate for any country in this regard; and

(e) if so, the details thereof?


Answer given by the minister

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
[SHRI V. MURALEEDHARAN]


(a) As on date, 16 countries provide visa-free access to Indian citizens (list of countries at Annexure-I).

(b) As on date, 38 countries provide visa-on-arrival access to Indian citizens (list of countries at Annexure-II).

(c) Citizens of 3 countries (Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives) are granted visa-free access and citizens of 3 countries (Japan, South Korea and UAE) are granted visa-on-arrival by the Government of India.

(d) & (e) Government of India has been progressively liberalizing its visa policy with the objective of promoting tourism and investments into India from other countries. Keeping in mind the same objective, India has extended e-Visa scheme to 169 foreign countries/ territories till date. These initiatives are expected to encourage other countries to reciprocate and facilitate travel of Indian citizens to their countries.

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