Attari, January 15
The implementation of the new liberal visa regime between India and Pakistan witnessed a sudden turnaround within hours of its launch today as India has reportedly put on hold the process of issuing visa on arrival to Pakistani senior citizens. Immigration officials at the Attari integrated check-post (ICP), however, said they hadn’t received any official intimation in that regard so far.

Even otherwise, the new visa regime didn’t find many takers on either side of the Indo-Pak border on its inaugural day. The first and the only person to have availed himself of the facility from the Indian side was a Chandigarh-based journalist. Nobody from Pakistan crossed over to India to get visa on arrival.

The escalating tension between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the killing of two Indian soldiers in Poonch also seemed to have cast its shadow on the facility.

This became evident when the Chandigarh resident revealed that four of his friends were also supposed to accompany him on the visit to Pakistan, but they backtracked in view of their families’ apprehensions due to the tension prevailing between the two countries.

There was a visible lack of coordination between the immigration authorities of the two countries, as the officials here were unaware about the documents needed by an Indian national to get “visa on arrival” for crossing over to Pakistan. However, they had put up a list of documents required for a senior citizen from Pakistan to get visa on arrival here.

The lone visitor from the Indian side who crossed over to Pakistan under the new visa regime was warmly greeted by the officials present on the other side of the border. Prior to leaving for Pakistan, he said he wanted to shatter the misconception that there was any threat in visiting the neighbouring country at this point in time due to tension at the LoC.

“The temperatures may be rising between the two nations at the LoC, but there is nothing between its people. People on both sides want friendship, peace and prosperity now,” he said. The new visa regime was a significant step in increasing people-to-people contact between the nationals of the two countries, he added.