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Saturday, October 15, 2011
Pakistan, India finalise liberal visa agreement* Draft text provides for hassle-free multiple-entry visa procedure for businessmen from either country
* Travellers from both countries will be permitted to visit more than three destinations
NEW DELHI: A two-day meeting of Joint Working Group of Pakistan and India concluded here on Friday, with and agreement on firming up of a draft of their bilateral visa agreement that will liberalise travel between the two countries.
The meeting, which was held to examine the modalities for streamlining visa procedures and to finalise the draft of the new Bilateral Visa Agreement, came out with the accord. The agreement seeks to ease travel for the nationals of the two nations who desire to visit the other country, said a joint press statement issued by the two sides after the second meeting of the Working Group.
The two sides finalised the draft text of the agreement, which would be submitted to the respective governments for obtaining necessary approvals in order to ratify it. The meeting was a follow-up on the deliberations held in the first meeting of the Joint Working Group in Islamabad from June 2-3 this year.
It was held in pursuance of the decision taken during the India-Pakistan home/interior secretary-level talks held in New Delhi on 28-29 March 2011. The Indian delegation was led by Anil Goswami, Additional Secretary (Foreigners), Ministry of Home Affairs while the Pakistan delegation was led by Ministry of Interior Additional Secretary Nasar Hayat. The discussions were held in a friendly and cordial atmosphere.
According to sources, the draft text provides for hassle-free visa procedure for the businessmen from either country. It also provides for more than three destinations for visit in each country to the travellers from India as well as Pakistan. At present, travellers are permitted to visit only three places in one visit. The draft also envisages multiple-entry visas for traders and businessmen of the two countries.
During the talks between the foreign ministers of the two countries in June, the two sides had prioritised building strong people-to-people contacts as a key part of their relationship and decided to accelerate their negotiations for concluding a visa agreement.
The finalisation of the visa agreement signals an easing of relations between the two neighbours whose ties had plummeted to a new low following the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. They decided to resume their peace process early this year. agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk