NEWDELHI: Minister for External Affairs, Jaishankar on Saturday hoped that with the liberal visa policy of the Centre, many countries will open consulates and visa processing centres in the Northeast. Once remote and backward, the Northeast region is witnessing many developmental activities in recent times, the minister said. In the letter to Rajya Sabha MP Wansuk Syiem, the union minister mentioned that her demand to have a visa facilitation centre in the region will allow consulates and visa processing centres in North east.
Syiem had raised the matter in a special mention saying that people from the region are running from pillar to post visiting high commissions, embassies and consulates to get a visa application cleared. Jaishankar made it clear that opening consulates is the sovereign right of a country. But depending on the increased demand and increasing proactive visa policy of the government, more and more countries will extend these facilities to the region as a reciprocal basis.