India has unilaterally decided to increase the period of stay for persons visiting Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to six months with multiple entries.

The decision comes the day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh invited President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan to join him at the Mohali cricket stadium on Wednesday to watch the World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan.
India’s overture is in keeping with its belief that people-to-people contacts across the Line of Control should not be allowed to be hostage to Pakistan’s wavering and inconsistent attitude toward pursuing a course of rapprochement and détente with India.
Giving details of the decision, ministry of external affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said the validity of the entry permits for persons from PoK would be increased from four months to six months.
At present, the passport offices in Srinagar and Jammu — which are the designated authorities for cross-LoC travel — allow for a four-week stay which may be extended by another two weeks.
“Based on the recommendation of the government of J&K, ministry of external affairs extends the stay for a further period of two weeks in certain cases, such as health or family emergencies,” Mr Prakash said. He hoped the gesture would encourage more people-to-people contacts across the LoC.
Humanitarian issues and confidence-building measures are among the subjects that are on the agenda of the India-Pakistan peace talks, which kick off on March 28 and 29 with the meeting of their home secretaries in New Delhi. The commerce secretaries of the two countries are expected to meet in April. The decision to resume the dialogue was announced on February 10, four days after foreign secretary Nirupama Rao met her Pakistan counterpart in Bhutan.
Prime Minister Singh’s invitation for the cricket match has been welcomed by the Pakistani government. Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar has said that Pakistan welcomed the invitation. Premier Gilani is reported to be favourably disposed to India’s gesture, too.
Pakistan was still to announce who — President Zardari or Premier Gilani — would eventually accept the invitation, but indications are that it will be Mr Gilani. He returned Saturday from a visit to Uzbekistan and was expected to call on President Zardari to take a view on the invitation. Pakistan information minister Firdous Ashiq Awan has told the media that other stakeholders, including the military leadership, would be consulted on the issue.
In India, Prime Minister Singh’s invitation to the Pakistani leaders has drawn a mixed reaction from political and official circles. Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy has asked the Prime Minister not to attend the match as it might put the Indian players under pressure and also because March 30 is the founding day of the elite National Security Guard (NSG), whose jawans fought the Pakistani terrorists responsible for the November 26, 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Mr Swamy also said that the PM was scheduled to attend an NSG function in the morning and attend the match in the afternoon.
A section in official circles wondered why India should not wait to see whether there was any satisfactory change in Pakistan’s attitude towards the series of talks planned between now and July, when the foreign ministers are likely to meet, before taking such goodwill gestures.