India’s Foreign Policy
Sri Lanka offers free visas to Indians to revive tourism
- Sri Lanka waived visa fee to issue free tourist visas to tourists from China, India, Russia, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Japan until March 31, 2024.
- The move aims to boost tourist arrivals and help rebuild the nation’s battered economy following financial crash in 2023.
- In 2023 over 2 lakh Indian tourists constituting 20 % of the total tourist arrivals have visited Sri Lanka until September 2023.
Note
- Sri Lanka’s tourism sector is struggling to bounce back after three major setbacks in the last few years
- The Easter Sunday terror attacks in 2019
- The corona virus pandemic in 2020 and 2021
- The unprecedented economic crisis in 2022.
- Until now, Indian tourists were charged $20 as visa fee.
About Sri Lanka
- Capitals – Colombo, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
- Currency – Sri Lankan Rupee
- President – Ranil Wickremesinghe
- Prime minister – Dinesh Gunawarden
