If Sartaj recommends India will issue medical visas to Pakistan nationals: Swaraj

KARACHI: Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Sawaraj said on Monday that Pakistani patients will be issued medical visas for treatment in India provided they are recommended by Pakistan’s Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz.

Her statement came in the wake of a Pakistani cancer patient seeking help to visit India for her treatment. Faiza Tanver, 25, suffering from a recurring ameloblastoma, an oral cancerous tumor, had requested the Indian minister to help get medical visa after Indian High Commission in Islamabad had rejected her application.

In a series of tweets on Monday, Sushma said, “I have sympathies for all Pakistan nationals seeking medical visas for their treatment in India. I am sure Mr Sartaj Aziz also has consideration for the national of his country. All we require is his recommendation for the grant of medical visa to Pakistan nationals.”

She hoped that Sartaj wouldn’t hesitate to give his recommendation, “I see no reason why should he hesitate to give his recommendation for nationals of his own country.”

 

I have my sympathies for all Pakistan nationals seeking medical visa for their treatment in India. /1

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 10, 2017

I am sure Mr.Sartaj Aziz also has consideration for the nationals of his country. /2

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 10, 2017

All that we require is his recommendation for the grant of medical visa to Pakistan nationals. /3

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 10, 2017

I see no reason why should he hesitate to give his recommendation for nationals of his own country. /4

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 10, 2017

 

The Indian minister said that India has also a visa application pending for an Indian national who wants to meet her son in Pakistan. She added that she had written a personal letter to Mr Sartaj for the grant of her visa to Pakistan but “he had not shown the courtesy even to acknowledge her letter.”

Sushma said in a tweet, “But I assure Pakistan nationals seeking medical visa with a recommendation from Mr.Sartaj Aziz, we will issue the visa immediately.”

 

 

We also have a visa application pending for an Indian national Mrs.Avantika Jadhav who wants to meet her son in Pakistan /5

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 10, 2017

against whom they have pronounced a death sentence. /6

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 10, 2017

I wrote a personal letter to Mr.Sartaj Aziz for the grant of her visa to Pakistan. /7

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 10, 2017

However, Mr.Aziz has not shown the courtesy even to acknowledge my letter. /8

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 10, 2017

But I assure Pakistan nationals seeking medical visa with a recommendation from Mr.Sartaj Aziz, we will issue the visa immediately. /9

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 10, 2017