Sri Lankan government has given necessary directives to revise a decision taken by its immigration department suspending on-arrival visa issuance for the citizens of Bangladesh.Talking to BBC Bangla, Harsha de Silva, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, said though the chief of Sri Lankan Immigration Department took the decision of his own, their government is taking steps to cancel the decision of halting the on-arrival visa issuance.”We’re unhappy with the decision taken by the Immigration Department chief,” BBC Bangla quoted de Silva as saying.The deputy minister also said there has already been a solution to the problem.Foreign Ministry sources here said Bangladesh will respond positively to it as it values Sri Lanka as a trusted friend. With the suspension of the both-way on-arrival visa issuance for the citizens of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka is still in force, Dhaka is waiting to get clarification from Colombo.On Sunday last, Additional Foreign Secretary (Bilateral and Consular) Kamrul Ahsan had a meeting with Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Dhaka Yasoja Gunasekera at his office when he wanted to know the reason behind stopping on-arrival visa facility for Bangladeshi citizens from the Sri Lankan side.The high commissioner, in reply, said she would inform the Bangladesh foreign ministry once she knows the reason after consulting with officials in Colombo.”After that there has been no official communication between us regarding the matter,” a senior official at the foreign ministry here told UNB on Thursday afternoon on phone.The official said they did not get any feedback until Thursday afternoon but are expecting a feedback shortly as Eid vacation is already over.Sri Lanka stopped issuing on-arrival visas for Bangladesh citizens few days back without informing the Bangladeshi authorities.Bangladesh also retaliated by stopping on-arrival visa facilities for the citizens of Sri Lanka, diplomatic sources said.
source:UNB
