Good News For Bangladesh Travellers: India Resumes Travel Visas From June 28 As New Envoy Takes Charge

Published 25 June 2026 · local

Good News For Bangladesh Travellers: India Resumes Travel Visas From June 28 As New Envoy Takes Charge Published By, Last Updated: June 25, 2026, 19:36

Good News For Bangladesh Travellers: India Resumes Travel Visas From June 28 As New Envoy Takes Charge Published By, Last Updated: June 25, 2026, 19:36 IST The visas will initially be processed through five centres—Dhaka, Rajshahi, Chattogram, Sylhet and Khulna—with the network expected to expand in the coming months. Rapid Read India's High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi visits the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) at Jamuna Future Park in Dhaka. (IMAGE: X) In the clearest sign yet of New Delhi’s bid to normalise ties with Bangladesh, India’s new High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi on Thursday announced the resumption of travel visas for Bangladeshi nationals, and also on the same day the Centre accorded him Union Cabinet Minister-equivalent status for ceremonial functions. Presenting his credentials to Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin before taking charge in Dhaka, Trivedi said general travel visa applications would reopen from June 28, ending a suspension that had remained in place for nearly two years amid political upheaval in Bangladesh and strained bilateral relations.

“I am very happy to be able to announce the launch of general travel visas again. Visa applications can be submitted starting June 28," Trivedi said during his first public engagement at the Indian Visa Application Centre in Dhaka. The visas will initially be processed through five centres—Dhaka, Rajshahi, Chattogram, Sylhet and Khulna—with the network expected to expand in the coming months, he said. Emergency medical visas will continue to be issued on humanitarian grounds. The announcement comes a day after the Ministry of Home Affairs granted Trivedi Union Cabinet Minister-equivalent status in the Table of Precedence for ceremonial purposes, a move widely interpreted as signalling the strategic importance New Delhi now attaches to its mission in Dhaka. Trivedi, a former Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader, became India’s first political appointee as High Commissioner to Bangladesh when he was named to the post in April.

He succeeds career diplomat Pranay Kumar Verma. The resumption of travel visas marks one of the first tangible confidence-building measures since bilateral ties deteriorated following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s government during the student-led uprising of August 2024. Under the subsequent interim administration headed by Muhammad Yunus, visa services were curtailed amid mounting security concerns and worsening diplomatic relations. Bangladesh later held general elections, following which Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Tarique Rahman assumed office as prime minister earlier this year. Against that backdrop, the reopening of travel visas is likely to facilitate tourism, business travel, medical treatment and transit through India, while signalling a broader effort by both countries to stabilise one of South Asia’s most consequential bilateral relationships. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit About the Author Shankhyaneel Sarkar Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18.