NEW DELHI: India cut visas to Pakistan drastically in 2017, issuing 18,000 fewer visas than in 2016,while Pakistan issued at least 6,000 more visas than before, official figures said.
In a reply tabled in India’s Parliament on Tuesday, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said 34,445 visas for Pakistanis were issued in 2017 as against 52,525 in 2016. The reduced figures came despite several exceptional medical visas granted by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj after requests made to her on twitter.
The Pakistani High Commission officials told The Hindu that 45,519 Indians were issued visas by Pakistan till November this year, including 17,844 issued to Hindu, Sikh and Bohra pilgrims, and 573 business visas as compared to 39,321 in 2016.
There was, however, a surge in the number of Indian visas for Bangladeshis. As many as 12.89 lakh visas were given to Bangladeshis this year in comparison to 9.33 lakh visas issued in 2016, Rijiju said in his reply to a written question.
The last time such a low number of visas was issued was in 2011 when 48,640 visas for Pakistanis were issued.
In 2014 and 2015, India granted 172,536 visas to Pakistanis. The numbers in 2012-13 when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power stood at 132,590. An official explained there was a difference in a number of visas issued and those who actually visited the country, as some postponed their visit or did not visit at all.
The Home Ministry’s annual report said that 1,04,720 Pakistanis visited India in 2016.
The decline came despite an agreement in 2012, when Pakistan and India had sealed a new visa agreement to promote people-to-people contact.
However, in August 2016, the Home Ministry had put in place an electronic visa clearance process for Pakistani citizens.