KARACHI: India has rejected 17,000 visa applications of Pakistani nationals this year so far.Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan Gautam Bambawale has contacted the Indian Home Ministry in New Delhi to know the reasons for visa refusal to such a big number of Pakistanis who wanted to meet their relatives in India. The Indian government has rejected 53 percent of visa applications this year so far. The ratio of applications rejected in 2014 and 2015 had been 24 percent and 17 percent, respectively.
The Indian high commissioner in Pakistan has contacted Indian Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi with regard to rejection of visa applications of Pakistani citizens. The Indian Embassy in Pakistan received 33,191 visa applications until May 31 this year and rejected 17,581 of them. Of the total 38,557 visa applications in 2015, 9,335 were rejected. In 2014, 8,910 of the total 50,338 visa applications were rejected. Soon after the Pathankot air base attack, India refused visa to a group of 75 Pakistanis who wanted to visit various shrines in India. It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan signed an agreement with India in 2012 to relax visa conditions and boost bilateral ties. However, the Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shown a complete disregard for this agreement.
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