Many Pakistanis have been tweeting to Sushma Swaraj, the Indian External Affairs Minister to get the Indian Medical Visa for their treatment.
However, the problem is not India but their own ‘discourteous’ Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz who failed to acknowledge Swaraj’s letter earlier in which she had requested that Pakistan also grants the visa to Kulbhushan Jadhav’s mother who has been given death sentence in Pakistan. Worse, Aziz is not even giving recommendations for Pakistanis seeking medical help in India which is making the situation even more troublesome.
In a statement directed largely at Pakistanis who throng her Twitter timeline, Sushma Swaraj spelled it out more clearly. Read her statement here:
I have my sympathies for all Pakistan nationals seeking medical visa for their treatment in India. I am sure Mr.Sartaj Aziz also has consideration for the nationals of his country. I see no reason why should he hesitate to give his recommendation for nationals of his own country.We also have a visa application pending for an Indian national Mrs.Avantika Jadhav who wants to meet her son in Pakistan against whom they have pronounced a death sentence.I wrote a personal letter to Mr.Sartaj Aziz for the grant of her visa to Pakistan.However, Mr.Aziz has not shown the courtesy even to acknowledge my letter. But I assure Pakistan nationals seeking medical visa with a recommendation from Mr.Sartaj Aziz, we will issue the visa immediately.
Naturally, Indians too are angry that Pakistan has not been entirely fair in dealing with this request on Kulbhushan Jadhav.
Too late, should have taken this step earlier, so does it mean that no visa for any Pakistani national till her visa is cleared by Pakistan
— Amit Vijay 🇮🇳 (@amit_vijay) July 10, 2017
Do they have the same humanitarian feeling for Kulbhushan sir? Why we Indians have a copyright over 'Humanity' and 'Sympathy.'
— Neelam Shaw (@nu9241) July 10, 2017
Last year, the Indian government had also provided details showing that between Jan-June 2016 899 Pakistanis came to India on Medical Visa while in 2015 the number stood at 1816. Pakistanis come to India on Medical Visa as many diseases are still untreatable in Pakistan.
Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) had earlier demanded more Indian Medical Visas for Pakistanis.
