India cramps Malaysian outbound with new restriction.

Date: 3 January 2013

India cramps Malaysian outbound with new restriction.

IN AN abrupt about-turn, the Indian High Commission has ruled that Malaysians cannot stay for more than 30 days at a time in India, a move that has dismayed tour operators. It also flies in the face of an earlier policy change which saw the mandatory two-month gap between tourists’ visits to India scrapped just weeks ago.

Malaysian Indian Travel and Tour Association president, K Thangavelu, said the change would affect Malaysians planning to stay more than a month in India, especially those who go for yoga and meditation, Ayurvedic treatments and pilgrimage tours.

“We feel the new ruling is unfair as it is only implemented for Malaysia and not worldwide. We have written to the deputy high commissioner, Aseem R Mahajan, to express our concerns on the matter and are awaiting a response,” he opined.

M Nantha Gopal, managing director, Nantha Travel & Tours, said he had seen a group of 30 Malaysians planning a three-month visit to Bengaluru in March defer their plans.

Johnson Francis, managing director of Oscar Holidays, added that he had yet to decide whether he would shorten his pilgrimage itinerary – which stretches beyond 30 days, starting from Varanasi and ending at Tamil Nadu – or break it into two tours. The peak period for such pilgrimage tours is from November to February.

By S Puvaneswary, Kuala Lumpur

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