THE Indian High Commission has rejected an appeal by the Malaysian Indian Tour and Travel Association (MITTA) against the new 30-day maximum stay ruling for Malaysian tourists to India (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 3, 2013).
MITTA sent the appeal to the Indian High Commission on January 17 on the grounds that the ruling was unfair as it was only implemented for Malaysians and not for other nationalities.
However, Indian deputy high commissioner, Aseem R Mahajan, had deemed the ruling as reciprocal as Indian nationals visiting Malaysia on a tourist visa with one-year multiple entry also could not stay for more than 30 days at a time, revealed MITTA president K Thangavelu.
Sree Thar, tour organiser of Ganesh Travel Agencies, said: ““The 30-day ruling is very short. It should be at least 45 days – that would be just nice. With this ruling, we have no choice but to shorten our All India Tour programme, which combines leisure holiday with visits to temples in the north and south of India and is originally 33 days long.
“The ruling will affect Malaysians with relatives in India as some will want to extend their stay and visit their relatives after the tour. To get around the 30-day ruling, they have the option of visiting a neighbouring country for a night or more and then returning to India but they are unlikely to exercise this option as it involves additional airfare and accommodation costs.”
Also affected by this 30-day maximum stay ruling are those of Indian origin in Malaysia with spouse and children in India.
Thangavelu said MITTA was encouraging Malaysians with family members living in India to apply for an entry visa so they can stay continuously in India for up to six months. The entry visa costs RM314 (US$102), almost double the multiple-entry tourist visa at RM162.
