India not to sign readmission agreement with Russia : Sibal

Moscow, June 6 (UNI) Indian Ambassador to Russia, Kanwal Sibal has said New Delhi will not sign agreement on re-admission in order to ease the visa procedures for Indians, on which Russia has been insistent.

''The scope of illegal immigration is very small, so we don't want to sign a readmission agreement based on non-existent facts. So we have decided to forget about easier travel for all, and just focus on business,'' Mr Sibal said in an interview to Russian Profile magazine.

He said Russian procedures with regards to visas ''are very cumbersome and outdated,'' adding, ''We are trying to impress on them that we must find a way to ease business travel. We had wanted to have an agreement with Russia facilitating all kinds of travel.'' Mr Sibal stressed that Indian tourists were travelling in very large numbers to Russia, and the outflow of Indian tourists exceeded the inflow of foreign tourists coming to India.

''But they (Russians) have put in a condition of signing a readmission agreement with them before they sign a visa facilitation agreement,'' he noted, referring to the visa agreement between Russia and the EU.

''The situation between Russia and the EU, where there has been such an agreement, is very different,'' he said.

''First, Russia wants visa-free travel with the EU, and we don't want that, we just want easier procedures. And secondly, there are very few Indians who actually want to immigrate to Russia, and there is no common border. The only way to get here is on Aeroflot flights,'' he said.

UNI