India expedites visas for Pakistani cricket fans
In another sign of improving relations, India plans to issue a record number of "cricket visas" to Pakistani nationals intending to root for their team.![Indian cricketer Virat Kohli, right, is congratulated by Pakistan cricket captain Mohammad Hafeez after India won the World 20-20 match against Pakistan on September 30th in Colombo. New Delhi will allow Pakistanis special travel privileges to follow their cricket team when the countries play a series of matches throughout India in December and January. [Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP]](http://khabarsouthasia.com/shared/images/2012/11/08/121108_UDAYAN_IN_CRICKETVISA.jpg)
The Pakistani team will be playing three one-day internationals (50 overs per side) at Chennai, Kolkata and New Delhi during December and January. In addition, two 20-20 matches -- the fastest version of the sport -- will be staged in Ahmedabad and Bangalore.
"We are aware of the tremendous opportunity this cricket series is affording the government of the two countries to foster good relations between each other's people," said Rajiv Shukla, an Indian junior minister for Parliament, who is also a top functionary in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
As a result, "the government has decided to make some extraordinary offers", he told Khabar South Asia.
The "cricket visas" will allow Pakistani fans to travel to all five host cities. "The visas will also be given on a match-by-match basis. There will be no discrimination," Home Secretary R. K. Singh told Khabar.
The last time a Pakistani cricket team toured India was in 2007. At the time, however, strict regulations were in place, and few Pakistanis were able to get visas. Under the existing visa regime, Indians and Pakistanis are normally barred from visiting more than one city in each other's county, and visas in general have previously been granted with considerable selectivity.
In September, however, Delhi and Islamabad reached an agreement on liberalising the rules.
Former Indian ambassador Satish Chandra told Khabar that the Manmohan Singh administration is keeping its word of "walking the extra mile" in repairing relations with Pakistan. The prime minister, he said, "is disregarding the warning of hawks. He wants the young people of India and Pakistan to interact because he rightly believes it is good insurance against future wars."
The government maintains that "utmost precaution" will be taken to ensure that visas are given only to people with clean records. Concern about militants infiltrating India from Pakistan remains high, especially in light of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
BCCI Vice Chairman Ratnakar Shetty welcomed the decision. "We were pleased when the government set up a high-powered committee to discuss matters relating to security preparedness and infrastructure for response. This exchange will be a continuous process."
Former Indian cricket star Arun Lal told Khabar: "It's a good idea to reserve 5,000 seats in each stadium to Pakistani fans. The matches will be more exciting if fans from both sides make a lot of noise."
Sabaikhabar.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment