VOIWORLD
Sri Lanka has approved visa-free entry for Indian tourists. Ali Sabry, Sri Lanka’s minister of foreign affairs, tweeted that the country’s cabinet has approved giving free visas to India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand with immediate effect as a trial project through March 31, 2024. The goal of this action, according to Sri Lanka’s tourism ministry, is to draw more visitors to the nation. According to the government, as stated by Sri Lankan media, “We are expecting to increase tourist arrivals to five million over the coming years.” Earlier in March, Sri Lankan foreign minister Ali Sabry said that his country’s relationship with India was ‘one of the most important in our foreign policy’.
Marking a significant change, visitors from these seven countries can now apply for visas to Sri Lanka without paying any fees. Historically, Sri Lanka’s main source of international travellers has been India. According to the figures for September, visitors from India made up the largest group with more than 30,000 arrivals, or 26% of the total. Visitors from China came in second with more than 8,000 arrivals.
Since gaining independence from Britain in 1948, Sri Lanka has faced significant economic difficulties. At the moment, the island nation is going through political unrest characterised by demonstrations demanding President Rajapaksa’s resignation. Critical shortages of basic needs, including food, medication, cooking gas, other fuels, and toilet paper, have been brought on by the economic crisis. Due to these shortages, Sri Lankans have been standing in lengthy lines outside of stores for months in order to get gasoline and cooking gas. Since the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which tragically resulted in the loss of 270 lives, including 11 Indians, and wounded over 500 people, the island country has seen a fall in the number of tourists visiting.
