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Valid passport sufficient to travel to Iraq
New Delhi, July 30: In a major relief to Indians interested in doing business in war-ravaged Iraq, the US-led coalition provisional authority has waived the requirement of entry visa and said a valid passport would be sufficient for travelling to the Gulf country.
New Delhi, July 30: In a major relief to Indians interested in doing business in war-ravaged Iraq, the US-led coalition provisional authority has waived the requirement of entry visa and said a valid passport would be sufficient for travelling to the Gulf country.
The US-led coalition provisional authority has informed
that Indians can enter Iraq from Jordan or Kuwait and would
only be required to produce a valid passport and documents to
support the business visit, official sources said.
This response came on inquiries made by state-run refiner Indian Oil Corp for travelling to Baghdad to seal a term contract with Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) for importing three million tonnes of crude oil.
Sources said a negotiating team of IOC missed July 21-22 meeting with SOMO due to confusion on entry visa requirement.
A few days before the team was to leave for Amman from where it planned to take the road route to Baghdad, IOC was informed about the requirement of travel permits.
"It was not clear as to who would issue the permits as the Iraqi embassy here has stopped issuing visas since the US-led war against Saddam Hussein regime ended in April," they said adding now the authorities in Iraq have clarified that Indians do not require any visa or travel permit.
Besides Indians, businessmen from US and Europe too are permitted to travel to Iraq without any entry conditions.
IOC is now scheduled to meet SOMO officials in mid-August for negotiating a deal to import Basrah light crude oil.
"We expect the deal to come through and imports may begin by October," they said. Bureau Report
This response came on inquiries made by state-run refiner Indian Oil Corp for travelling to Baghdad to seal a term contract with Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) for importing three million tonnes of crude oil.
Sources said a negotiating team of IOC missed July 21-22 meeting with SOMO due to confusion on entry visa requirement.
A few days before the team was to leave for Amman from where it planned to take the road route to Baghdad, IOC was informed about the requirement of travel permits.
"It was not clear as to who would issue the permits as the Iraqi embassy here has stopped issuing visas since the US-led war against Saddam Hussein regime ended in April," they said adding now the authorities in Iraq have clarified that Indians do not require any visa or travel permit.
Besides Indians, businessmen from US and Europe too are permitted to travel to Iraq without any entry conditions.
IOC is now scheduled to meet SOMO officials in mid-August for negotiating a deal to import Basrah light crude oil.
"We expect the deal to come through and imports may begin by October," they said. Bureau Report