PM Narendra Modi assures Iran President Hassan Rouhani on easy visas

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured Iran President Hassan Rouhani during talks at Ufa in Russia recently that India will take “positive action” to remove Iran from the prior referral category so that its nationals can get visas quickly and easily.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting with the Iran President in Ufa on July 10 had assured of him of positive action with regard to removing Iran from PRC,” says a note sent by Prime Minister’s Office on July 21 to home secretary LC Goyal, foreign secretary S Jaishanker and director, Intelligence Bureau Dineshwar Sharma, with a copy marked to the Indian Ambassador in Tehran.

Attaching deliberations of the meeting chaired by national security advisor Ajit Doval on the matter in the first week of July after his visit to Iran, the PMO has sought a status report within four weeks for removal of Iran from the PRC.

India had been considering taking this step for a while to foster diplomatic relations with Iran. Nationals of countries under PRC are also subjected to intensive checks. Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Sudan and Somalia figure among these countries. China is now set to be extended e-tourist visa facility.