3,000 Indian visas for Pak cricket fans
India, for the first time, has decided to allow multi-city visas for Pakistani spectators for the upcoming India-Pakistan limited over cricket series beginning December 25. A total of 3,000 visas will be issued in the general category for the five cities hosting the matches, with Delhi bagging the highest number.
However, any Pakistani who figures on the “blacklist” of intelligence agencies will not be granted visa as the home ministry has put in place multi-layered security checks in view of the threat perceptions associated with the event. The MHA has alerted the security brass that no Pakistani visitor “coming on foot” will be allowed to cross the border — a facility that is available at the Wagah border. “Pakistani visitors can travel by road, train or air,” an official said.
However, coming as a big relief for Pakistani cricket fans, no Indian sponsors will be required to avail the visa facility this time. MHA officials said 1,000 visas will be issued for the match to be played in New Delhi while 500 each visas will be given to Pakistani cricket fans for the matches in Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Kolkata. Around 300 visas will separately be issued to VIPs travelling from Pakistan out of which 100 will be given to those keen to watch the match in the capital while 50 visas have been set aside for VIPs travelling to other four cities.
The granting of multiple-city visas for Pakistanis has been the highlight of the revised bilateral visa agreement between New Delhi and Islamabad signed recently. After several delays from the Pakistani side over operationalising the agreement , sources said New Delhi has decided to operationalise part of the agreement to allow smooth travel of Pakistani spectators for the limited period of the cricket series.
However, only those visa applications which enclose copies of the tickets for the matches and the return travel tickets will be cleared and no requests for change in travel plans will be entertained. The applicants must also apply for the visas before the Indian high commission in Islamabad at least seven days before their departure for India.
The Indo-Pak cricket series has invited security concerns after nearly 12 Pakistanis who came to India to watch the 2007 cricket series had gone missing even as Pakistani-American LeT operative David Headley claimed during interrogation that 26/11 handler Sajid Mir had used the cricket match as a cover to recce possible terror targets the same year.
In July, the BCCI had decided to resume cricketing ties with Pakistan by inviting the neighbouring country for a short series. The arch-rivals have not played a bilateral series since Pakistan’s tour of India in 2007 after cricket ties were snapped following the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
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