The Sri Lankan foreign ministry announced Indians will be offered free visas to the nation as part of a pilot programme which will extend till March 31, 2024. It will revive the country’s fledgling tourism industry and also extend to citizens from six other countries – Russia, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Japan.
Sri Lanka Cabinet approved issuing of free visas to India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand with immediate effect as a pilot project till 31 March. Tourists from these countries will be allowed to travel without any fee to Sri Lanka.
As per the latest data from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, India is the largest source of tourists with 2,00,310 arrivals so far this year, followed by Russia with 1,32,300.
About Sri Lanka –
- Capitals: Colombo, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
- Currency: Sri Lankan Rupee
- President: Ranil Wickremesinghe
- Prime minister: Dinesh Gunawardena
- Official languages: Sinhala, Tamil
- Total Area: 65,610 km²
- Dialing code: +94