Siliguri Border Point Closure Impacts Nepal-India Tourism

There has been a sudden unannounced closure of the border route for foreign tourists (other than Nepalese and Indian citizens) at Panitanki, close to Siliguri. This will directly impact the tourism sector in both Nepal and India. The foreign tourists opting to enter India or Nepal from that point after visiting nearby areas will not be able to do so. Instead, they need to go to other border points, which will impact their travel budget, waste of crucial travel days, and most of all, virtually close the tourism sector in that area.

The other feasible options for tourists entering India from Nepal are through Raxaul and Gorakhpur by train. But it is widely known about the difficulty of obtaining train tickets for the tourists. In these circumstances, tourists' budgets and travel days will be impacted in addition to the travel being more stressful and tiresome.

The people at these borders are from both Nepal and India and heavily depend on tourism for their livelihood. In such cases, the decision to close the border will cause severe hardship to them. The governments of both Nepal and India should look at the issue and come to a better solution to any reasons that caused the decision to border closing for foreign tourists.