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DHAKA, Mar 01, 2026 (BSS)- Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed today said that India has assured Bangladesh it will gradually resume full visa operations, which have remained limited for the past one and a half years due to security concerns.
The minister made the remarks while briefing reporters at the Home Ministry following a courtesy call on Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma.
According to the minister, the Indian envoy met him as part of routine protocol following the formation of the new government.
Referring to the current state of visa operations, Salahuddin said India informed the ministry that its consulates and visa offices in Bangladesh had faced attacks over the past one and a half years, which prevented them from functioning with full capacity.
He added that India has now assured Dhaka that steps are being taken to gradually restore full visa services as the security situation improves.
The development is expected to ease travel and strengthen people-to-people connectivity between the two neighbouring countries.
In response, the High Commissioner said that sufficient medical visas are being issued.
However, over the past year and a half, various visa centers had been closed and visa issuance reduced due to mob attacks, protests, and overall security concerns.
He noted that with the establishment of a political government in Bangladesh and improvement of the law and order, visa centers would be reopened in phases and visa issuance would gradually increase once security is ensured.
The minister assured that no mob attacks would be allowed on Indian visa centers or other Indian establishments, according to a press release of the Home Ministry.
He said adequate security has been ensured at the Indian High Commission and visa centers.
The High Commissioner added that Indian visa applications are now processed online and that there had been attempts to hack the website. He requested necessary action in this regard.
The minister instructed the Cyber Crime Unit of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) and the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit to take appropriate measures.
Bangladesh–India bilateral relations will be based on people-to-people contact, not on ties between any political parties, said the Home Minister.
The minister stated that Bangladesh wants to move the relationship forward, not backward. Learning from past experiences, both sides aim to renew their bilateral ties.
He emphasized that the two countries share a common culture and history and that their mutual interdependence should be viewed as strength, not a weakness. According to him, shared interests will form the foundation of the relationship.
During the meeting, the two sides discussed a wide range of issues of mutual interest, including security cooperation, maintenance of law and order, prevention of mob violence and attacks, reopening Indian visa centers and increasing the rate of visa issuance, combating cybercrime, stopping border killings.
It also discussed holding director-general level conferences between the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and India’s Border Security Force (BSF), training exchanges between the police academies of the two countries, sending more trainees under India’s ITEC program for capacity building, exchange of prisoners, expansion of trade and commerce, and strengthening overall bilateral relations.
The minister also said that border killings remain an issue hindering bilateral relations and requested that the number of such incidents be brought down to zero as quickly as possible.
The minister assured that more Bangladeshi trainees from law enforcement agencies would be sent to India for capacity-building training.
At the beginning of the meeting, the minister welcomed the Indian High Commissioner, who congratulated him on his appointment.
Salahuddin thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for congratulating Bangladesh’s newly elected Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.
The High Commissioner expressed hope that both sides would work together to rejuvenate their historic bilateral ties.
