Amid diplomatic tension over stopping visa on arrival facilities for Bangladesh citizens, Sri Lanka yesterday announced to withdraw its plan and continue issuing the previous facility.

Harsha de Silva, deputy foreign minister of Sri Lanka, announced in Colombo that necessary instruction has been given to withdrawing the landing endorsements immediately.

However, sources at the foreign ministry said that no official confirmation from the Sri Lankan government has been made regarding this.

In an interview with BBC, Silva said the Sri Lankan government has not taken any decision to scrap the visa on arrival facility for the Bangladesh nationals. The chief of the immigration department had taken the decision on his own, which is now being withdrawn, he said.

Diplomatic sources in Dhaka and Colombo confirmed that Colombo assured to scrap the decision as the move widely seen as potentially damaging to the island’s tourism industry, which is recovering from 37 years of ethnic conflict.

They said an official notice is expected to be issued soon.

There was no comment available from the Bangladesh government side.

In an abrupt move, Sri Lanka stopped issuing visa on arrival for Bangladeshis on September 7 without informing the Bangladeshi government.

Visa on arrival facilities between the two countries began in 1980 following a bilateral agreement.

Expressing dissatisfaction over Sri Lankan’s “unilateral” decision to stop issuing of “visa on-arrival” facility for Bangladeshis, Dhaka has asked for a clarification from Colombo for reason behind the action.

Bangladesh has also retaliated by stopping similar facilities for Sri Lankan nationals last week. -Agencies

Source: The Daily Star