Are there "issues" when wanting to travel to, from, between Pakistan, India and Bangladesh?
That India, Pakistan and Bangladesh tend to dislike each other severely due to past events and general history is a matter of record. India and Pakistan disagreement over Kashmir 'does not help'. Suggestions that travel between them may lead to hassles seem not wholly without merit.
I'm told:
that having even a visa from one in your passport may cause you hassles with others.
An ongoing history of visiting others even more so.
Having a close relative working in India may be flagged by Bangladesh and/or Pakistan and cause extra hassles.
I am concerned whether any of this is true and, if so, how to manage it.
Summary: I wish to know if there are issues in applying to travel between India, Bangladesh and Pakistan on various occasions and combinations.
My concerns are not re normal travel issues but the potential for "political action" by any parties. I have been led to understand that the less than perfect relationships between the countries concerned can lead to travel issues if you travel between these countries in various ways over a number of trips.
The relevance of mentioning my wife is that her employment in India may add to any concerns over my status. I may have got things completely out of proportion, but I have been told that even a visa for country A in your passport can cause country B to treat you badly.
BACKGROUND: I'm a New Zealand national. My and my wife's ancestors all come from the UK - via Australia during the colonial days. ie we have no South (or other) Asian "roots".
My wife will be travelling to India on business on several occasions throughout 2014, for 3 to 6 weeks at a time. When applying for her Indian visa she was asked many questions relating to Pakistan, if she had any ancestors or relative from Pakistan (no), if she had ever been there (no) and what countries she had visited in the last 10 years.
I would like to visit her in India on one or more occasions - I've never been to India or elsewhere nearby and would love to visit. I'm involved in solar lighting and may well spend some time on business in India in a business capacity - even if only looking at what others are doing. I maybe wanted to provide assistance to a non-profit organisation in Bangladesh who are providing lighting systems in villages. I have also indicated to a US based non-profit who provides solar lighting in villages in Pakistan that I would be interested in assisting them if they considered I may be useful.
I am an APEC card holder - which gives me visa-free access to a number of Asian countries, but not to any of the three concerned here but may help establish my legitimacy as a business traveller in the region. I wish to travel between India, Bangladesh and Pakistan in a business capacity (paid or pro bono) and want to be fully open and honest about where I am going and what I am doing. In India I would be a tourist when visiting my wife but otherwise probably could best be described as on business. The visit to Bangladesh would be business focused but I may not get paid. Pakistan - business - no details yet known.
Am I going to face problems due to my travel to and from the other countries and activities in the other countries?
Is having my wife in India on a business visa going to affect my travel?
Is there an optimum visa to apply for?
Best Answer
I have lived in India and Pakistan, even when at war with one another, and made several business trips to each of India and Bangladesh. I have never noticed the slightest issue arising from these visits. Admittedly this was for travel on a passport that was from none of the three countries. The only difference I am aware of was being hoiked out of a long queue at Immigration - to be inserted at the front. That rather surprised me.
However, I am aware Pakistani nationals face all kinds of exceptional 'monitoring' when trying to enter India so I would not be surprised by some 'tit for tat'. Bangladesh seems rather less sensitive about other nationalities. These though are administrative inconveniences - they might reduce the chances of obtaining a visa and do restrict means of access, but once permission is granted make little difference.
Perhaps your appearance is of a local and you fear prejudice on that account, but if so it may help if you were more specific.
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Can you travel between Pakistan and India?
Do not travel to the India-Pakistan border. Militant groups are known to operate in the area. India and Pakistan maintain a strong military presence on both sides of the border. Indian and Pakistani military forces periodically exchange gunfire and artillery fire across the Line of Control (LoC).Is there any border dispute between India and Bangladesh?
India has resolved its un-demarcated border with Bhutan, which included multiple irregularities. India also resolved its border disputes with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka....Disputed areas.Disputed areaTrans-Karakoram Tract (Shaksgam)AdministrativeIndiaLadakh (Leh district)ChinaXinjiangControlled byChina (since 1963)8 more columnsCan I drive from Pakistan to India?
Always angry with each other, India and Pakistan do not allow vehicular traffic across their borders (unless they're fighting a war and the vehicles are tanks). To get to Lahore, therefore, de Guerre would need to take a more circuitous route.Would you draw the border between India and Pakistan?
In July 1947, about five weeks before the British were scheduled to depart the Indian subcontinent, Sir Cyril Radcliffe, a British lawyer, was commissioned to draw the borders that would divide British India into two countries \u2013 Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority India.Partition 1947 । Why it happened? | India and Pakistan | Dhruv Rathee
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Answer 2
I am an Indian and haven't been to Bangladesh or Pakistan but from what we see and hear, i can share following:
It is lot more easier to travel between India and Bangladesh as they are friendlier nations.
Once you have travelled to India or Pakistan, then planning to travel to other country will most likely involve lots of scrutiny.
Indo-Pak relations have worsened in recent past so you need to prepared for scrutiny or even Visa rejection.
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