India should look at issuing long-term visas for certain categories of people, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said here on Tuesday.

Just as the country had come up with innovative steps, such as granting visa on arrival, it should also look at providing long-term visas, say, for 10 years, he said.

Such visas could be given for certain categories of people, such as top scholars and qualified professionals who would want to frequently travel to India, Khurshid said.

“If the US can do it (give 10-year visas), we should also look at it,” he said at an ADB-CII conference on promoting ‘Mekong-India Economic Cooperation’.

Cross-border movement of professionals and technically skilled people are key to closer economic ties.

Services pact

Khurshid also said that India and Asean would soon enter into an agreement on services. This would pave the way for negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, he said.

The recent political reform process in Myanmar now makes possible, land connectivity between South and South-East Asia, which was not feasible a few years ago.

Asean has a free trade agreement with Japan, South Korea, China, Australia and New Zealand. However, it has not been fully completed with India.

>srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in

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