Rajiv Mehra, President, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) apprised that Taiwanese Nationals visiting Sikkim were facing problems to enter as Sikkim Permit which was being issued by INDIA-TAIPEI Association, Taipei was not accepting by the FRO at Rango Checkpost.
Welcoming Govt. decision, IATO’s President Rajiv Mehra said, “We would like to thank Ministry of Home Affairs and Bureau of Immigration, Govt. of India for considering IATO’s request to accept Inner Line Permit issued by the India-Taipei Association at Rangpo Check-post and tourists from Taiwan are being allowed to enter Sikkim.”
Mehra mentioned that as per information from our members, recently, whenever any client wanted to enter Sikkim from Rangpo FRO outpost, Officials at FRO were not accepting this Sikkim Permit on the grounds that the permit was not issued by the Indian Embassy.
As per the FRO in Rangpo (Sikkim Border), they had instructions not to allow anyone with Republic of China or Peoples Republic of China passports to enter Sikkim unless they have a clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs or Ministry of External Affairs.
Matter was taken up with Joint Secretary (Foreigners), Ministry of Home Affairs and Commissioner, Bureau of Immigration, Govt. of India wherein IATO specifically mentioned that Sikkim Permit is being issued by India-Taipei Association who are also the Visa Issuing Authorities for many years and there has never been any such problem in the past and this permit was being accepted by Rangpo FRO post.
IATO requested the Joint Secretary (F) – MHA and Commissioner – BOI to look into this matter and suitable directives may be issued to the officials at Rangpo outpost accept the Inner Line Permit issued by the India-Taipei Association to avoid any inconvenience to the tourists from Taiwan while entering Sikkim.
