In a masterstroke response to Pakistan’s meddling in Kashmir affairs, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday allowed a medical visa to be given to an ailing resident of Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (POK), Osama Ali, saying he is a resident of an area which is part of India, currently illegally occupied by Pakistan.
“POK is an integral part of India. Pakistan has illegally occupied it. We are giving him a visa. No letter required,” Sushma tweeted. The Minister’s line is clear indicative of the fact that India would remain assertive on POK and the residents of the region may be allowed to travel to India in future as well without any hindrance. Osama (24) — a resident of Rawalkot in POK — has been diagnosed with a tumour in his liver and he wants to come to Delhi.
India took a tough stand against Pakistani citizens with regard to medical visas after Pakistan did not issue a visa to Kulbhushan Jadhav’s mother Avantika Jadhav to meet her son, currently in Pakistan’s custody, despite Sushma writing personally to Pakistani Foreign Adviser Sartaj Aziz.
Despite this, Sushma has from time-to-time waived off the condition of a letter from Aziz and allowed some of the patients to come to India for treatment. This includes giving visa to the family of a four-month-old Pakistani boy Rohaan who suffered from a life-threatening heart ailment, after his father Kamal Siddiqui requested Sushma to help him via Twitter. While Sushma has made a few exceptions, the condition for a letter from Aziz has still not been removed.
Interestingly, Aziz has not given a single letter to any of the medical visa applicants forcing Pakistani nationals to plead their case directly with Sushma.
On July 10, swamped by several requests Sushma said: “I have my sympathies for all Pakistani nationals seeking medical visa for their treatment in India. All that we require is his recommendation for the grant of medical visa to Pakistani nationals.”
In fact, Sushma took the opportunity to slam Aziz for not showing the courtesy of acknowledging a letter by her addressed to him, seeking a visa for Kulbhushan Jadhav’s mother Avantika.
“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,” Sushma said in a series of tweets.