India on Tuesday denied travel permission to five Delhi-based Pakistan diplomats who wanted to visit Kolkata for Saturday’s Twenty20 cricket match, officials have confirmed.
“We have denied travel permission to five Delhi-based Pakistani diplomats. We have allowed two Pakistani diplomats based in Delhi to travel, but the other five were denied as they did not apply in the prescribed proforma, giving the flight details”, said a government source, indicating that the five were attached with the ISI and the Pakistan military and, therefore, were usually not allowed to travel outside Delhi.
Indian government sources said that the denial of permission to a few was done as per the usual practice as the entire list of visa requests was usually not accepted. India has, however, promised that Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit and his family would be issued visas for whichever match they wished to attend during the ICC World Cup series.
However, Pakistan diplomats have termed the episode of visa denial as “unfortunate” which would hurt the necessary supportive role of the officials from the Pakistan High Commission for the match.
“West Bengal officials will also expect some support from Pakistan diplomats on the ground as we are supposed to look after our people, especially in view of the threat perception that we are aware of. But, the denial will prevent us from playing that supportive role on the ground. India, despite being the host of Twenty20 World Cup, is refusing to fulfil its obligations and creating hurdles. In this regard, the Indian Deputy High Commissioner in Pakistan will be summoned”, a Pakistan diplomat told The Hindu .
India has, however, issued visas for 100 Pakistan spectators for Saturday’s match which has been at the centre of a diplomatic tug-of-war for the past few weeks.
