ISLAMABAD: India has banned issuance of medical visas to Pakistani citizens without giving any reason. To make the visa process more complicated, India is also planning to make several changes to existing rules, sources said.
The Foreign Office has expressed reservation over the move that will affect thousands of patients from Pakistan. According to Indian media, the BJP government is also planning to review business and religious pilgrimage visas offered to Pakistani citizens. The decision has been taken by India few weeks after it decided to put all bilateral engagements with Pakistan on hold after RAW agent Kulbhushan Jadhav’s death sentence. The BJP-led government is ready to go ahead to reflect what foreign minister Sushma Swaraj had announced in Parliament that India will go to any extent to free Jadhav. The Indian spy was tried through Field General Court Martial (FGCM) under Pakistan Army Act (PAA). He was arrested on March 3, 2016 through a Counter Intelligence Operation from Mashkel, Balochistan. In March last year, Pakistan Army released a video in which the Indian spy confessed to New Delhi’s involvement in terrorist activities in Balochistan. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said India was sponsoring cross-border terrorism in Pakistan. He made it clear that Kulbhushan Jadhav’s death sentence was a warning for those hatching conspiracies against the country.
