Sushma asks Indian mission in Pak to grant visa to ailing woman

In yet another humanitarian gesture, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj  on Sunday asked the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to grant a visa to a Pakistani woman for a liver transplant in India.

Her intervention came after Sadia, the ailing woman's daughter, requested Sushma  to grant  a visa to her mother.

"We will certainly help. I have asked Indian High Commission in Pakistan to issue visa for the liver transplant of your mother. @IndiainPakistan," Sushma said in a tweet.

To a request for medical visa by another Pakistani national Nasir Mahmood Ahmed, Sushma said the Indian mission in Pakistan will examine his papers and send her a report.

Ahmed, in a tweet to Sushma, said he wants to undergo liver and kidney transplant in India.

To a plea by Pakistani national Hira Azhar for a medical visa for her father, Sushma asked her to contact the Indian Mission in Riyadh in this connection.

"Pls contact @IndianEmbRiyadh. We will give medical visa for the liver transplant of your father in India," Swaraj said on the micro-blogging site.

Earlier, Hira, currently based in Saudi Arabia, had said, "@SushmaSwaraj My dad's only hope is an urgent liver transplant. We are Pakistanis in KSA and waiting for the visa to India. Please help."

Sushma has been adopting a humanitarian approach in granting visas to Pakistani nationals on medical ground notwithstanding a strain in relationship between the two countries over a host of sticky issues, including cross-border terrorism.