Praveen Swami, resident editor of The Hindu, was denied visa by the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi on Thursday. Swami was a member of the media delegation accompanying External Affairs Minister SM Krishna to Pakistan for the foreign minister-level talks on September 8. Siddharth Varadarajan, editor of The Hindu, said the Pakistani High Commission had communicated to him that if the newspaper nominates someone else, he or she would be granted a visa.
“This was an offer we refused. It is not acceptable for anyone to dictate who we can send to cover a story,” Varadarajan said. This was the first time that Swami had applied for a visa to visit Pakistan, and he was called by the High Commission early this week for a meeting. What is interesting is that Swami’s passport had been stamped with a visa, but then it was crossed and cancelled. The Pakistani High Commission spokesperson was not available for comment.