The Indian Ministry of Commerce has proposed visa-free entry for business visitors and tourists from BRICS countries to boost business and tourism within Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
But the Indian Home Ministry has shot down the ambitious proposal of the Commerce Ministry due to security reasons.
According to Home Ministry sources, “Due to security concerns it’s not feasible for us to extend visa-free travel to these countries. We understand the objective of the Commerce Ministry but for us security is of primary concern. The Home Ministry can make travel easier by better and faster visa processing which we are doing.”
Indian Home Ministry sources told Sputnik that because China is also part of BRICS, so for security reasons it is not possible for the government to allow nationals of all BRICS countries to grant visa-free travel as they cannot make an exception with Chinese nationals while allowing nationals of all other member countries. In any case visa processing for Russia, Brazil and South Africa nationals is faster than for other countries.