13 Dec, 2010
Monsters and Critics
New Delhi - India has decided to extend its visa-on-arrival scheme to nationals from five Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries beginning January 1, news reports said Sunday.
The single-entry visa for nationals of Cambodia, Philippines, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar was aimed at attracting Buddhist pilgrims, PTI news agency reported citing Tourism Ministry sources.
The visas would be issued at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata airports and would have a validity of 30 days, a Tourism Ministry official was quoted as saying.
Nationals of Singapore along with those of Japan, New Zealand, Finland and Luxembourg have had access to scheme on a trial basis since January, in an effort to promote tourism.
'The response is so far good and 5,644 tourists availed this facility between January and November this year. Now we want to include more countries,' the Tourism Ministry official said.
The ministry has also taken steps to develop the Buddhist tourist circuit including a special train that connects important pilgrimage centres and historical sites, like Bodh Gaya and Nalanda in the eastern Indian state of Bihar and Lumbini in Nepal near the Indian border.
The Buddha was born in Lumbini while Bodh Gaya is where he is said to have achieved enlightenment. Nalanda has the ruins of an ancient Buddhist university.
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