On December 14, 2023, the Iranian Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Ezzatollah Zarghami said the Iranian Cabinet has decided to unilaterally cancel visa requirements for visitors from India. Iran has decided to waive visa requirements for 33 countries.
Speaking to reporters after a cabinet meeting on the same day, Zarghami said the decision is aimed at boosting tourism arrivals and attracting more visitors from countries around the world. He said efforts to boost tourism can neutralize Iranophobia campaigns.
List of Countries
The 33 countries approved for Iran’s new visa-waiver program are as follows: India, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Mauritania, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Seychelles, Indonesia, Darussalam, Japan, Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brazil, Peru, Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia and Belarus.
Recently Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam have waived Visa requirements for Visitors from India. India has one of the fastest-growing markets for Outbound Tourism India with a recent McKinsey analysis showing 13 million outbound Indian tourists in 2022. Earlier, Iran had visa waiver programs for visitors from Türkiye, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Oman, China, Armenia, Lebanon and Syria.
According to the latest statistics, the number of foreign arrivals in Iran reached 4.4 million during the first eight months of the current Iranian year (started on March 21), an increase of 48.5% compared to the same period last year.
India-Iran Bonhomie
India and Iran have a close relationship on multiple fronts and India is the major stakeholder in the Chabahar port project. Both sides have been in close contact over several recent moves, including Iran’s entry into the BRICS during the Johannesburg summit in South Africa last August. Iran will officially become a member of BRICS on January 1, 2024.
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