Indians can now travel to Russia's Far East without visas

There's good news for all Indian travellers who would love a hassle-free trip to Russia's Far East. Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Monday said that tourists and businessmen from at least 18 countries, including India, can now visit the country's Far East without visas.

"I have recently approved the list of countries, whose nationals can take advantage of the preferential regime. Businessmen and tourists will not need to undergo the traditional procedure of Russian visas receipt," the Prime Minister said. It will be enough for foreigners "to enter their data on a special website in the Internet," Medvedev said.

"We are proactively forming the modern infrastructure and creating special regimes in the Far East; the law on visits to the Vladivostok free port was approved in March," Medvedev added.

The Russian PM said removing the visa requirement for tourists and businessmen "will promote growth of investment and tourist attractiveness of the Far East." The Russian region will earn more money from tourist traffic growth, he added.

Medvedev said all eighteen countries selected by the reciprocity principle were included in the no-visa list.

"This is not because these states are situated at a closer or longer distance - we are appropriately introducing bilateral agreements on visa-free travel for those ready to use such an approach for us," he added.

The official site of the Russian Cabinet said the 18 countries include Algeria, Bahrain, Brunei, India, Iran, Qatar, China, North Korea, Kuwait, Morocco, Mexico, UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Tunisia, Turkey and Japan.