Visa matters

Pakistan and India are finally getting down to signing that bit of paper which will make it easier for visitors from either side to cross into each other’s countries. The more relaxed visa regime had been expected in May, when the foreign secretaries of the two countries had reached an agreement on it. However, a spanner in the works was rather unexpectedly thrown in by interior minister Rehman Malik, who stated at the time that he sought a more ‘political’ dimension to the visa deal. Malik cited the need for ‘internal’ agreements, leaving both the Indians and all onlookers rather befuddled.

However, after the delay of some three months, the deal is now to be signed, during the visit by Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna to Islamabad next week. Ahead of his meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar the foreign secretaries of the two countries will be meeting to lay down the groundwork for the ministerial talks. The new visa regime will include group visas for tourists for the first time, visas on arrival for senior citizens and children and multiple entry visas for businessmen. This is a big step forward. We must also hope that the deal will help save the people wishing to travel across the border from long hours of waiting outside high commissions and the complex processes involved in the submission of documents.

Easing cross-border entry restrictions is crucial for many reasons. It enables the person-to-person contact vital for developing a better understanding and the wiping away of myths and prejudices. We are badly in need of this. Ideally, the relaxed visa set-up should further move forward step by step and be combined with other measures aimed at removing bias in both countries. At present, these issues influence mindsets and determine the problems, which in many ways hamper the building of a genuinely friendly relationship. This is what both countries must strive towards, both for the sake of the region as a whole, and the people of both nations, who would benefit greatly from more spent on development rather than defence. This, then, should be the prime consideration as talks continue at various levels.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd, 2012.