The Indian government has started issuing visas on arrival to Pakistani senior citizens on Tuesday, Indian media reported.
For the first time since Independence, Pakistanis above the age of 65 will be issued visas on arrival at the Attari-Wagah border joint checkpost, 30 km from Amritsar. It is a single entry visa issued for 45 days and Pakistanis issued this visa will not be allowed to visit Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala and other restricted areas.
This visa can be availed twice a year and people issued this visa will not have to report to local police stations, which is mandatory for most Pakistani travelers.
Those who avail the visa on arrival at Wagah will have to return to Pakistan the same way – across the border checkpost on foot. They cannot change their mode of travel by, say, taking the Samjhauti Express train or a bus on their way back.
India and Pakistan had signed a visa agreement in September last year under which rules to issue visas to nationals of both countries were eased a little. It was under this agreement that both sides agreed to allow visa on arrival for senior citizens at the Attari-Wagah border.
Last week, as tension escalated at the Line of Control in Kashmir, Indian Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde made it clear that it would not affect the visa agreement. “We are not rethinking the agreement. Whatever agreement we entered into, we will honour that,” he had said.