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India is likely to sign an agreement with China which could boost tourist arrivals from that country, a senior Government official said on Wednesday.
The agreement would be signed during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to China. Modi leaves on Thursday for a visit to China, Mongolia and South Korea. The Cabinet at its meetings here on Wednesday discussed the tourism agreement, the official said, but declined to say whether India would grant Chinese tourists e-visa facility.
Incidentally, the Tourism Ministry has moved an official note calling for granting visa on arrival to tourists from China, a move which is being opposed by the Home Ministry. Supporting the move, the Tourism Ministry has pointed out that 2015 is being observed as Visit India year in China and any liberalisation of visa rules would help bring in more Chinese tourists.
Over 1.76 lakh Chinese tourists visited India in 2013, a 15 per cent growth since 2011. Chinese visitors constituted over 2.1 per cent of the total inbound tourist traffic to India in 2013
A final decision on simplifying procedures for grant of visas to visitors from China lies with the Prime Minister, the Home Ministry and the Ministry of External Affairs, the official said. The official declined to say whether any announcement on this issue is expected to be made by the Prime Minister during the visit.
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