Endorsement: Indian cabinet clears new visa norms for Pakistanis
Common people from either country will now be able to visit three earmarked cities.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s cabinet has endorsed a move to ease travel between India and Pakistan for certain categories. The decision clears the way for a formal agreement between Islamabad and New Delhi. The agreement could be signed if Pakistan’s cabinet also approves the move.
Citing unnamed sources, the Press Trust of India said that common people from either country would be able to visit three earmarked cities from now onwards.
Businessmen with multiple entry, non-police reporting visas can visit five cities instead of three, it said. However, the provision will apply only to business persons whose credentials are certified by the chambers on the both sides.
From India, it will be FICCI and from Pakistani side it will be the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI).
In addition, elderly people would be exempt from police reporting, as per the proposed agreement, PTI cited its sources as saying. The decision comes ahead of a meeting of home secretaries of the two countries, scheduled to take place in Islamabad in the last week of May.
New Delhi has also shown its willingness to supply locomotives to Pakistan to meet the shortage of engines. A team of Pakistan Railway officials is in New Delhi for discussing the modalities for cooperation in the sector, Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal said.
The three-member team of the Pakistan Railways Advisory and Consultancy Services Limited held preliminary discussions with the officials of Railway Infrastructure, Technical and Economic Services.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 28th, 2012.