Head of the consular department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexey Klimov told TASS that work on an agreement on visa-free travel for tourist groups between Russia and India has been suspended. He called the development of such a document a nontrivial task, since the Indian side had not previously practiced international treaties on group visa-free travel.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the possibility of simplifying the visa regime back in 2019. After the start of the war with Ukraine, Putin urged Modi to completely abolish visas between the two countries. In 2023, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development sent India a proposal to launch a visa-free regime along the lines of China and Iran.
At the beginning of December 2025, after the Russian president's visit to India, Modi said that in the near future the path to establishing a visa-free regime for tourist groups from the two countries for up to 30 days would begin. At the end of the month, India's ambassador to Russia, Vinay Kumar, said that preparations were underway related to logistics and changes in the system.
In spring 2026, it became known that Moscow was counting on an agreement on a visa-free regime for tourist groups of three to 50 people with a stay of up to 21 days. The Ministry of Economic Development said that the process was moving not as quickly as desired, and linked the delay to complex interdepartmental approvals in India. A single-entry paper Indian visa for Russians costs 3,465 rubles, a double-entry one — 7,492 rubles, and a multiple-entry one — 9,909 rubles; an electronic visa for up to 30 days is issued free of charge. Last year, tourist traffic between India and Russia reached 143,000 trips, which is 15% more than in 2024, and in the first half of 2026 the volume of trips increased by 8%. According to the Ministry of Economic Development, more than 25,000 Indian tourists visited Russia.
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