The High Commission of India in Sri Lanka on Thursday, May 2, dismissed as "unwarranted" the local media reports and social media posts that blamed an "Indian company" for bungling the visa issuance at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Indian High Commission's statement came after Sri Lankan authorities claimed that they had taken back the running of the ‘Visa on Arrival’ counters at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) from the Indian firm after the alleged incident on Wednesday.
“We have seen reports and comments including in social media regarding Indian companies taking over visa issuance at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), Colombo,” the High Commission of India said in a statement.
“The companies referred to in these reports are not India-based or Indian and are headquartered elsewhere. Any reference to India in this context is unwarranted,” the statement said in response to media queries.
Earlier in the day, Sri Lankan immigration authorities claimed they had taken back control of the ‘Visa on Arrival' counters at the Colombo International Airport. “We took over the operation after the Indian company left. They were unable to carry out smooth operations which drew the ire of the passengers on arrival,” Jayasinghe Bandara, a senior immigration department official, told PTI here.
The government of Sri Lanka had contracted the Indian company to run the ‘Visa on Arrival' counters at the airport. The Indian firm officials were unable to carry out a smooth operation as they had not done a trial run of the busy operation, he said.