New Delhi: Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh on Tuesday downplayed the move to put on hold the operationalisation of the process of giving visas on arrival to Pakistani senior citizens, saying a move in this regard will be taken only after due consultation with the concerned agencies.
“A couple of points have to be ironed out on that. These are technical aspects, there are documents required etc. So, we will iron that out in consultation with our agencies and thereafter we will,” he told the media here. The liberalised visa agreement between India and Pakistan was scheduled to kick off at Attari-Wagah border check post on Tuesday.
Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and his Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malik had signed the new visa agreement in December last year. Shinde had earlier on January 10 ruled out putting the new relaxed visa regime between the two Asian neighbours on hold.
Tension between the two Asian neighbours has escalated ever since Indian jawan Lance Naik Hemraj Singh was beheaded in an attack by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control on January 8. Pakistan has so far denied India”s claim that its troops crossed the Line of Control to ambush a patrol party in the Mendhar sector in Poonch district. (ANI)
