Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, on Tuesday, said that India will grant a medical visa in all the bonafide cases from Pakistan that are pending with the Indian government. This is a shift in India’s position as it had been asking for a recommendation letter from the Pakistani Foreign Minister for all medical visa cases.
“On the auspicious occasion of India’s Independence Day, we will grant a medical visa in all bonafide cases pending with us,” Swaraj tweeted, and tagged the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. A few weeks ago, Swaraj had said that India would grant a medical visa to those nationals from the neighbouring country whose applicants were recommended by Pakistan Prime Minister’s Foreign Office Advisor Sartaj Aziz.
Sushma had Monday conveyed the decision to grant medical visa to a Pakistani, Faiza Tanveer, “Thanks for your greetings on India’s Independence Day. We are giving you the visa for your treatment in India,” she tweeted.
Aziz, however, is no longer the Pakistan Prime Minister’s foreign office advisor as he has been appointed as the deputy chairman of the planning commission. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Abbasi, 58, was sworn-in as Pakistan’s 18th Prime Minister on August 1 after the Supreme Court disqualified the incumbent Nawaz Sharif for dishonesty following the Panama Papers scandal.
