Sushma relaxes norms to issue medical visa for PoK man

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday waived a newly imposed pre-condition to issue a medical visa to an ailing youth from Rawalkot in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Sushma promised visa to 24-year-old Osama Ali so that he could undergo treatment for a liver tumour in New Delhi.

Though he could not get a recommendation from Pakistan Prime Minister’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz, Sushma said Ali would be issued a visa because the area he lived in was an integral part of India, albeit under the illegal occupation of the neighbouring country.

“PoK is an integral part of India. Pakistan has illegally occupied it. We are giving him a visa. No letter required,” Sushma tweeted. Her post came after the media quoted Ali’s father Javed Naz Khan appealing to her to waive the requirement of submitting a recommendation from Aziz.

New Delhi has over the past few months restricted visas to Pakistanis seeking to undergo treatment in India, particularly after a military court in the neighbouring country sentenced Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former navy officer, to death.

India has been insisting that the citizens of Pakistan, wanting to come to India for treatment, must submit their visa applications along with a recommendation letter from Aziz.