The Indian ministry of external affairs has decided to discontinue the India-Bangladesh Passport (IBP) service from November 15, reports BSS.
However, the passports already issued will remain valid until their eventual expiry.
According to official source, no new applications for an IBP will be accepted by any of the Indian state governments, who were earlier delegated with the power to do so.
The ministry has said that all applications received on or before November 15 should be processed and issued expeditiously.
Geetika Srivastava, a regional passport officer in Kolkata, said: “This is an outcome of the deal of revised travel arrangement between India and Bangladesh. The arrangement was signed on January 28, 2013,"
IBP was introduced as a special travel document on August 1972 to facilitate travel between India and Bangladesh.
Over the years, the central government delegated the power of issuing IBPs to the state governments of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and West Bengal.
Director of Department of Immigration and Passport Rafiqul Islam said: “Bangladesh has stopped issuing such passports for four years now, as per the revised travel arrangement between India and Bangladesh.”