Access point: Russia and India are closer to visa-free travel for tourist groups
Russia hopes to resolve all technical issues related to the introduction of a visa-free regime for tourist groups in the near future, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko told Izvestia. Immediately after the positive response from the Indian side, the development of the relevant agreement will begin. The parties will determine the number of people in groups, the mechanisms of border crossing and the interaction of tour operators, the Ministry of Economy clarified to Izvestia. At the same time, visa—free travel could have been introduced as early as 2024 - the hitch may be related to migration risks. ATOR and PCT believe that the issue will be discussed at the upcoming Russian-Indian talks in New Delhi.
When will Russia and India introduce visa-free travel for travel groups
In the near future, Russia and India may agree to abolish the visa regime for tourist groups. This topic has been discussed for almost 10 years. The Russian side launched such an initiative back in 2016. However, then the Indian authorities did not approve the idea. In New Delhi, the coordination was considered too difficult from a bureaucratic point of view, given the administrative division of the country — the Indian states have quite a lot of autonomy.
The issue was also actively considered in 2023: in August, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation sent its proposals to India, and the parties even seemed to agree to introduce visa-free travel for the next year. And now, by the end of 2025, the probability has increased significantly — there are specifics. Now it remains for Russia and India to resolve technical issues, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko told Izvestia.
— There are certain technical things that need to be solved. First of all, they are related to the difference in our legislation. We hope that this problem will be solved in the near future," said Andrey Rudenko. — It is beneficial for both our and Indian [tourists]. Therefore, it seems to me that there are no political problems here.
The draft agreement is still under consideration by the Indian side. Nikita Kondratiev, director of the Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects at the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, told Izvestia that all the necessary instructions for the operation of this mechanism have been handed over by analogy with the existing agreements with China and Iran. The agency expects to start agreeing on the agreement in the near future.
— We really hope that we will receive a positive decision from the Indian side in the very near future and will begin to coordinate the agreement itself. Among other things, we will work out the procedure for forming groups, the number of people in such groups, as well as the mechanisms of border crossing and interaction between tour operators," Kondratiev said.
The reason for the delay may be due to bureaucratic procedures, especially when it comes to approving changes to intergovernmental agreements, believes Alexey Kupriyanov, head of the IMEMO RAS Center for the Indian Ocean Region.
The Association of Tour Operators (ATOR) and the Russian Union of Travel Industry (PCT) believe that this topic will be discussed at the upcoming Russian-Indian high-level talks in December. The visa agenda is always raised during such contacts, as it is a matter of countries' trust in each other to expand cooperation, Alexey Vengin, co-head of the Committee on Inbound Tourism of the PCT, told Izvestia. And according to ATOR Vice-President Artur Muradyan, progress is quite possible following the talks.
At the same time, Moscow and New Delhi are discussing another issue, which may also contribute to a significant increase in tourist traffic. The mutual recognition of the Mir and RuPay payment systems was also on the agenda of the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Foreign Minister Subramaniam Jaishankar in Moscow on November 18. The parties will raise the same topic again at the upcoming high-level talks in December, Andrei Rudenko previously told Izvestia.
The dates of Vladimir Putin's visit to New Delhi have already been agreed, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said recently. "We will officially announce it together with our Indian partners, but I can say that we are talking about the beginning of December," he said, noting that the visit would be "fruitful in every sense." Earlier, Roscongress reported that the Russian president would arrive in India on December 5 and address the plenary session of the Russian-Indian Forum.
Group visa-free travel with China and Iran
Before introducing a group visa-free regime with India, it is necessary to establish a similar mechanism in relations with Iran and China, the PCT noted earlier. Serious progress has been made in this regard. In the case of Iran, the agreement was signed back in 2021, and visa-free travel was launched in 2023 - now groups of five to 50 people can freely enter both countries for a period of no more than 15 days. However, the program is not very popular yet. It is mainly used by Iranians entering Russia.
The visa-free agreement between Russia and China has been in force since 2000. It allowed tourists in a group of five to 50 people to freely enter the country and stay there for up to 15 days. In 2020, the agreement was temporarily suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was resumed in August 2023. After that, the issue of reducing the number of groups from five to three people was discussed for quite a long time. Thanks to this, a family of three could freely enter the territory of the People's Republic of China.
In September of this year, the situation took an unexpected turn. Instead of reducing the number of groups, China introduced a trial individual visa-free regime for a year. Starting from September 15, Russian citizens can visit the country without a visa for up to 30 days. The decision came after the Russian-Chinese high-level talks in Beijing on September 2. Two days later, having already arrived in Vladivostok to speak at the WEF, Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with a member of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee, Li Hongzhong, announced an early retaliatory gesture. At the same time, visa-free travel has not yet been earned for the Chinese. In mid-November, the Russian president assured that mirror measures for tourists from China would be introduced "in the near future."
Thus, the situation with the Chinese visa-free regime began to develop rapidly after some downtime. On the one hand, this adds to the optimism that the same events will develop in relations with India. On the other hand, the slow pace of reaching agreements is also being explained. After all, China and India are the countries with the largest populations in the world, and too much tourist traffic threatens security in one way or another.
— It is possible that our law enforcement agencies have concerns about migration risks associated with the introduction of a visa-free regime with India. On the other hand, now migrants from Asian countries such as India, on the contrary, have better preferences in our country than from our CIS," Artur Muradyan noted.
At the same time, Russia is still counting on an increase in tourist traffic. If there is a demand from Russians for India, then there are few Indian tourists in Russia.
— Visa-free group trips with India are one of the key priorities for increasing tourist flows. According to experience, such solutions result in a 2-3—fold increase in the number of visits to our country," Nikita Kondratiev told Izvestia.
By the way, the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, together with the Ministry of Energy, is currently implementing the federal program "Open Your Russia". It encourages the regions of the Russian Federation to develop tourism products aimed at foreign visitors. And in many regions there are programs specifically for Indian tourists, Alexey Vengin emphasized. All of them will be presented on December 12 at the Rossiya National Center in Moscow. In the future, these travel programs will be able to apply for federal support for promotion on the international market. But it is also important to ensure logistical accessibility.
— I think that the restrictions on travel to Russia from India lie more in logistics. The fact is that there are very few direct flights, and they are quite expensive. The visa issue is the second one here, but, of course, it is very important," Alexei Vengin believes.
As for individual visa-free travel with India, experts believe that this is still a long way off. Currently, two types of Indian visas are available for Russian citizens: paper, which can be obtained at the Indian consulate, and electronic, which can be issued independently on the website. indianvisaonline.gov.in . Depending on the duration of the visa, prices range from 3 thousand to 8 thousand. rubles'.
Last week, the Indian Embassy hosted a ceremony dedicated to the opening of two new consulates General. In Kazan, the institution should be operational by the end of November, and in Yekaterinburg — in December.
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