Bangladesh halts visas for Pakistani nationals amid diplomatic impasse

Dhaka/Islamabad: Bangladesh high commission in Islamabad has stopped issuing visas to Pakistani nationals for one week over a fresh diplomatic row, a Bangladeshi official said on Tuesday, amid strained bilateral ties since 2013 when Dhaka decided to hang several of the 1971 war criminals.
The diplomatic row between Bangladesh and Pakistan is on the rise since last year when Dhaka denied a visa to the Pakistan high commissioner. “You can call it a sign of protest against the Pakistani gesture,” a Bangladeshi foreign ministry official familiar with the development told PTI.
The foreign office in Dhaka, however, is yet to make any formal confirmation and no official notification has been issued on the halting of visas to the Pakistani nationals.
But the official, who preferred anonymity, said the Bangladeshi diplomat in charge of issuing visas refrained from processing the application by Pakistanis as Pakistani authorities had been sitting on his own official visa renewal application for the past four months.
Pakistani high commission in Dhaka is not processing his family members’ visa applications, barring Bangladesh high commission’s press and visa affairs councillor Iqbal Hossain from meeting his family, the official said.
“Issuance of any visa to Pakistani nationals remains suspended as the visa counter in Bangladesh High Commission in Islamabad has been closed since last Monday [May 13],” Dhaka Tribune quoted Hossain as saying.
The Bangladeshi councillor said they had informed the South Asia wing of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pakistan. According to the officials, Hossain is living in Islamabad with his daughter while his wife and son were in Dhaka.
No official in the Pakistani high commission was immediately available for comments over the impasse. Pakistan apparently has delayed the renewal of the visa after Dhaka refused to accept the nomination of the new high commissioner of Pakistan to Bangladesh for over a year. (PTI)