Iran announces visa-free policy for Indian tourists

[FuturePAF]

This is far the dumbest Tehran logic…India purchases limited Iranian oil at a discounted price. Tehran will close her eyes while Indian with Tel Aviv help set both parts of Baluchistan on fire and wreck it with violence. Iran uses Saudi Phobia as a red herring brother. I find Iran Delhi friendship for more menacing than Pakistan’s with gulf. Throw in the Afghans ! We got ourselves a a trio here.

Others maybe more dangerous, but Iran gives physical access. Don’t get me wrong, no country in the region is Pakistan’s “friend”. China is a reliable partner, and but everyone else really has their own interests that don’t align with Pakistan’s interests to the extent Pakistan would like. This is especially true, as India displaces Pakistan as the go to partner for many of these neighbors to our west, due to our decades of internal negligence.

Tehran may not allow India to run roughshod, but funding militant groups just enough to keep Baluchistan at a simmer seems like their MO, especially if anti Iranian groups find a way to survive in Pakistani Baluchistan. Considering the forces arrayed against both Iran and Pakistan, I would hope both countries could come to an unwritten agreement to keep out third parties in Baluchistan and work on the Afghans together, along with the CARs, Russia, and China, to not be a source of instability, but that will come at the cost of potential GCC or western offers that the Pakistani state may not want to opt out of, and at the risk of India being forced to opt out of deals with Iran due to pressure from the GCC and the West as well, especially under Trump.

 

[Waz]

The E-Visa needs to be applied for online before you depart. In most cases, it's processed quickly, often issued immediately or within a day of application. I’ve had instances where it was approved while I was on my way to the airport. For countries like Turkey, the approval is instantaneous.

The list of countries offering VOA and E-Visa grows a lot if you’re an Indian with a valid U.S., UK, or Schengen visa.

If you check the Passport Power Index, having a U.S. visa can bump up the number of countries you can visit visa-free or with a VOA by around 60 more for an Indian passport.

Visa on arrival is different. Here you don't have to apply for visa. You arrive at the destination ane u will get visa.

E visa is simply online visa. You have to apply before arrival.

Oh ok I understand that now. It's still a simple way of getting one but it's not a visa on arrival i.e. you have to apply for the 'Stan' nations. I was wondering having been to the nations that they had tightened things up.

 

[AjayGhatak]

Besides Iran is a relatively peaceful country and quite streets where people are well behaved

Brah!

Iran signals preparation for potential unrest

Iran's energy-rich government is bracing for potential unrest amid rolling blackouts and rising gasoline prices, with judicial, security and intelligence services briefed to be ready for a response.

www.iranintl.com

Iran signals preparation for potential unrest​

Iran's energy-rich government is bracing for potential unrest amid rolling blackouts and rising gasoline prices, with judicial, security and intelligence services briefed to be ready for a response.

 

[AjayGhatak]

Is the E Visa the same as VOA to India?

There are ETA and then there is e-Visa.

ETA is essentially an announcement that you will arrive. e-Visa is a visa done over internet but visa none the less.

 

[EugeneP]

I believe your information might be incorrect here mate. If i recall correctly, Pakistanis do not get visa on arrival in UAE regardless of whether they have a US visa.

I think we all know the answer to the 'why'. Nobody wants to say it out loud.

Big deal, I will go ahead and say it out loud, damn political correctness. This is Trump era. Pakistan is rather infamous for generating terrorists. Not so with India. Satisfied?

 

[Nilgiri]

Hmmm....Iran. Indians really need to learn civility and civic sense before travelling anywhere..

From google search:

According to recent reports, there has been a significant increase in Indian tourist arrivals to Iran, with a 39% rise in the first few months of this year, largely due to Iran waiving visa requirements for Indian tourists, resulting in over 58,000 Indian visitors last year alone


Google search also says Chinese tourists to Iran lately is around the same:

From March 21, 2023, to January 20, 2024, over 54,000 Chinese tourists visited Iran, spending an average of $1,000 each. To accommodate this, Iran introduced a visa-free policy for Chinese nationals and trained Chinese-speaking guides.


The original article of this thread.... is actually 1 year old now and there are indian tourists in iran vlogs on youtube etc already, most seem to have positive experience both ways.... so let us see how the growth unfolds, it would come to halt if the worse kind of Indian tourists flood in there.

Most of the crappy Indian tourists Ive seen tend to frequent South East Asia given flight volumes, package deals that way and so on, and lot of this kind of seedier and boorish travel stuff being normalised for a quick buck.....seen lot of boors from various places end up in ASEAN tourist hotspots to begin with.

 

[agidest]

Big deal, I will go ahead and say it out loud, damn political correctness. This is Trump era. Pakistan is rather infamous for generating terrorists. Not so with India. Satisfied?

That's one part of it.

Another part is the proportion of Pakistanis who leverage tourist visas and overstay either illegally or through requesting asylum is high. For example, UAE has significantly reduced the visas issued to Pakistanis, even going so far as imposing shadow bans on people from multiple (entire) cities in Pakistan.

 

[mulj]

It seems logical move, indians have now about one hundred millions wealthy enough people to travel around the world, that is not small figure although i do not see why do they would go to Iran touristically as most of them are probably anti muslim.

 

[vasanthm]

It seems logical move, indians have now about one hundred millions wealthy enough people to travel around the world, that is not small figure although i do not see why do they would go to Iran touristically as most of them are probably anti muslim.

You're making some broad assumptions. The university in my city has a lot of Iranian students, and some have even married locals and settled here. A few of the lovely Iranian ladies hosted a paid Iranian dinner meet, and I got to meet several of them. They’re well-read, have a liberal mindset, and their lifestyle is very different from the typical conservative Middle Eastern image you might expect. They seem to really enjoy their time in India, and the upper middle class here seems to appreciate them too.

I've also met quite a few Indians who’ve traveled to Iran, and they all rave about the culture, hospitality, and food. So, this "hate the Muslim thing" might actually be more specific to Pakistanis, not Iranians.
.

 

[safriz]

The Holy Shia state. Phull support for Hindutva

 

[mulj]

You're making some broad assumptions. The university in my city has a lot of Iranian students, and some have even married locals and settled here. A few of the lovely Iranian ladies hosted a paid Iranian dinner meet, and I got to meet several of them. They’re well-read, have a liberal mindset, and their lifestyle is very different from the typical conservative Middle Eastern image you might expect. They seem to really enjoy their time in India, and the upper middle class here seems to appreciate them too.

I've also met quite a few Indians who’ve traveled to Iran, and they all rave about the culture, hospitality, and food. So, this "hate the Muslim thing" might actually be more specific to Pakistanis, not Iranians.
.

Which assumptions? What anecdotal event has to do with modern mainstream anti muslim hindu sentiment and correlation why would such people go as tourists in muslim countries?

 

[agidest]

It seems logical move, indians have now about one hundred millions wealthy enough people to travel around the world, that is not small figure although i do not see why do they would go to Iran touristically as most of them are probably anti muslim.

Iran is not defined by as just 'being Muslim'.

Iran has a fairly positive image in India for multiple reasons. Parsis who are widely liked in India, tons of Iranian students who come to India for studies and are well liked, and as a fellow ancient civilization, as a country which India shares strategic interests with, etc.

 

[mulj]

Iran is not defined by as just 'being Muslim'.

Iran has a fairly positive image in India for multiple reasons. Parsis who are widely liked in India, tons of Iranian students who come to India for studies and are well liked, and as a fellow ancient civilization, as a country which India shares strategic interests with, etc.

It is literally islamic republic, everything that you hate with your guts, i do not buy your winging.

 

[Distant_Observer]

It is literally islamic republic, everything that you hate with your guts, i do not buy your winging.

Indians as a society are very abusive towards Muslims and Islam online. There are atleast 100 million of them barking every day on social media. You would think their partners in the middle east would guide them towards a more mutually respectful atmosphere.

 

[agidest]

It is literally islamic republic, everything that you hate with your guts, i do not buy your winging.

I really don't give a shit what you buy. You asked a question, i gave the answer.

Now whether or not Indians chose to travel to Iran is an open question, the more relevant question to you should be why aren't they opening up to Pakistanis who are obsessive about Islam and would go there in much larger numbers.