OREANDA-NEWS  The Cabinet of Ministers of Sri Lanka announced the start of issuing free visas to citizens of seven countries, including Russia. This was announced by Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabri. The issuance of visas takes place within the framework of a pilot project, which will be valid until March 31.

"The Cabinet of Ministers approves the issuance of free visas for India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand with immediate entry into force as a pilot project until March 31," Ali Sabri wrote on his page on the social network X.

The bill, according to which visa fees will be abolished for citizens of Russia, China, India, Malaysia, Japan, Thailand and Indonesia, was submitted to the Sri Lankan government for discussion on October 15. The country's Minister of Tourism, Harin Fernando, reported that the initiative was developed jointly with the Ministry of Public Security for countries whose citizens actively visit the island as tourists. However, the timing of the adoption of the law on free visas was not specified at that time.