Rehman Malik likely to visit India in upcoming weeks

Expected to discuss implementation of new visa regime and security for Pakistan’s cricket team.

ISLAMABAD:

Interior Minister Rehman Malik is likely to leave for India sometime in the next couple of weeks. His visit will focus on implementing the newly agreed visa regime between the two neighbours and ensuring security for Pakistan’s national cricket team during its upcoming tour of India, officials familiar with the development told The Express Tribune.

Malik’s upcoming visit to New Delhi follows an invitation by his Indian counterpart Sushil Kumar Shinde during the Interpol General Assembly meeting in Rome last week. Shinde requested Malik to visit India on November 22 or 23 after the country’s external affairs ministry gave the green light.

While not providing an exact date himself, a senior interior ministry official said the foreign office will announce the date after getting clearance from departments concerned, particularly in the presidency. The Interior Minister confirmed the likelihood of his visit himself last week, but did not reveal a specific date either.

“New Delhi anxiously awaits the Pakistani Interior Minister’s visit for implementing the new visa regime,” an Indian diplomat in Islamabad told The Express Tribune. He informed that Malik will also meet top officials from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for restarting cricketing ties between the two countries.

According to interior ministry officials preparing the minister’s agenda for his visit, he will also discuss issues relating to those accused over the Mumbai attacks and the disputed power project New Delhi is constructing on the Neelum river at Gurez in Indian-Administered Kashmir. Other items on the agenda include three agreements signed in September which seek to facilitate the trade mechanism between the two neighbours.

Cricket team’s security

During his stay in New Delhi, Malik will discuss issues pertaining to Pakistani cricketers’ security with authorities in India as well, especially in light of threats by Hindu radical groups in India. Last month, radical groups, particularly Shiv Sena, warned Pakistan players against visiting India. India’s High Commissioner in Islamabad Sharat Sabharwal has already assured the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that the cricketers visiting the country will be provided utmost security.

In a recent meeting with PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf, Sabharwal also assured him that the Indian government will issue close to 5,000 visas to Pakistani spectators for the cricket series which begins December 25. He expressed the same views with Rehman Malik as well.

No visa relaxation for Pakistani spectators

The Indian home ministry, meanwhile, announced there will be no visa relaxation for Pakistani spectators intending to visit the country for the series, the Times of India reported on Sunday. The ministry said the Pakistani spectators will still require an Indian sponsor in order to get a visa.

According to the Indian daily, the decision was taken considering the 12 missing Pakistani men who visited the country in 2007 for the last India-Pakistan cricket series.

The Times of India report, however, quoted a home ministry official as saying that there will be no cap on the number of Pakistan spectators allowed to visit the country and anyone eligible for a visa shall be issued one.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 12^th, 2012.