Dumb & Dumber
Better see it on the first visit
It’s refreshing to find a country with a visa policy as imbecilic as my own. India may actually have topped the United States for stupidity. In the guise of preventing repeat visits to find targets for terrorists (as was apparently done by American David Headley prior to the Mumbai attacks in 2008), India decided December 24 that no one with a tourist visa may re-enter India within two months of their departure – even if they hold multiple entry visas. Another example of travelers being considered guilty until proven innocent, something that should be anathema but is followed by security and transportation officials everywhere.
The obvious impact is on tourism, since the ban officially applies only to tourist visas (there have been reports of denied entry with business visas). India has slightly loosened the ban for travelers going trekking in Nepal, but the measure will surely kill otherwise innocent transit traffic by preventing travelers from stopping to see the Taj on a return leg. Such travelers would have to file a detailed itinerary (and show their return tickets) with Indian officialdom the first time they leave India. I am sure that Indian bureaucrats are the most efficient in the world, but what happens if the little piece of paper with your itinerary is misplaced or if you are forced to change plans? India stands to lose millions in tourism revenue and millions more in a depreciated image.
I know you will be shocked, but much business travel is done under “tourist” visas – business visas generally being more cumbersome to obtain. And it is not unknown for business travelers to have to return for negotiations in less than two months. It is unguessable how much business, other than tourism, that India will lose as a result of this misguided policy. It would appear that Indian security officials are accomplishing the aims of the terrorists in terms of damage to the Indian economy. Dumb.
