"When there is a vacuum, others will come and fill the space," one of four Bangladesh sources, most of them diplomats, told Reuters. Since August, India has handed out fewer than 1,000 medical visas each working day, down from a figure of 5,000 to 7,000, said the sources, who all sought anonymity, citing their terms of employment. In 2023, India issued more than 2 million visas to Bangladeshis, most of them on medical grounds, government data from both countries shows. "The cooperation between China and Bangladesh is not targeted at any third party, nor is it influenced by third-party factors," the spokesperson told Reuters. One of them also attributed the fewer medical visas to the finding that some were being misused by people looking to "try and escape difficult conditions in Bangladesh".

Source: bd News24 March 19, 2025 06:26 UTC