Indian government makes life even more complicated for tourist visa holders

India's home ministry has made a serious, sudden change to the conditions under which you can hold a tourist visa for India. The rule bars tourists from re-entering the country within two months of a visit and it comes right bang in the middle of holiday season too.

This unexpected move applies to other foreign nationals but, according to this Guardian report, Britain and the US have already "lodged a diplomatic protest" on account of its travellers and the thousands of its citizens living in India on long-term tourist visas.

This comes, the paper points out, following the arrest of David Coleman Headley who had a multiple entry business visa and made nine trips to India to scout the target sites of the 26/11 terror attacks. The news also comes just after home minister P Chidambaram, "announced the trial introduction of a visa-on-arrival scheme for citizens of Singapore, Japan, New Zealand, Luxembourg and Finland and said a country the size of India should be attracting at least 50 million visitors a year," according to the Guardian article. 

About five million tourists visit India every year, the Guardian estimates.

Besides affecting business interests and tourism, the move may have diplomatic repercussions as well but how all this will play out and indeed how this rule is meant to be implemented is not yet confirmed.