Estonians able to travel to India with electronic visa
India has added Estonia in the list of 42 countries whose citizens can apply for Indian e-Tourist Visa (eTV) for tourism, visiting friends and family, and short duration medical treatment and business visits.
Eligible travelers may obtain the visa online and approval will be issued in advance electronically, before the date of travel to India. The actual visa sticker will be placed inside passport at the airport on arrival in India.
The application for eTV must be made minimum 4 days in advance of the date of arrival and is valid for 30 days from the date of arrival.
Estonian Foreign Minister Keit Pentus-Rosimannus said that India is a popular destination for Estonian tourists and easing the visa rules for country's citizens is certainly a good news.
Bilateral relations between the two countries have intensified recently. Estonian Embassy in New Delhi was opened in 2012 and networking between their respective public and private institutions has become very active.
Most of the economic co-operation currently focuses on ICT sector, since both India and Estonia have a lot of skills and experience in information technology. Indian businesses have also invested in Estonia, although the numbers are still in hundreds of thousands of euros, rather than millions.
Culturally and education-wise, Sanskrit has been taught at the University of Tartu and in the Estonian Humanitarian Institute at the Tallinn University for some time. Tallinn University also teaches Hindi, Indian culture, philosophy and history.
In 2012, Hindi-language translation of the Estonian epic poem “Kalevipoeg” - “Kalevputra” - was unveiled during a book fair in New Delhi.
Editor: S. Tambur