India's Ambassador to Israel
Navtej Singh Sarna had denied claims made by travel agents that the Indian Embassy dislikes Israelis and is therefore delaying issuing tourist visas.
"Ninety-nine percent of the passports we receive for issuing tourist visas are returned within 72 hours," Sarna said Monday. "Thinking that we don't like Israelis and are delaying visas on purpose is ridiculous."
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The ambassador was addressing claims published by Yedioth Ahronoth's economic supplement, which stated that many passports were being delayed at the embassy for more than two weeks, and that some of the passengers leaving for India had received their passports at the airport at the last minute, while others had missed their flights.
According to travel agents, another reason for the delay was the lack of manpower at the embassy.
The Israel Tourist & Travel Agents Association informed travel agents about two weeks ago that due to pressure at the Indian Consulate, Israelis were forced to wait longer for an entry visa.
"We are not committed to issuing visas at such a short period of time, but we do so because we want to encourage tourism from Israel to India," Sarna added. "The two countries have very close relations. We had a computer problem about two weeks ago, but it was solved. We have not been delaying tourists on purpose."
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