Pakistanis can apply for Indian visa through courier

ISLAMABAD: India has taken several steps to facilitate people from across Pakistan in applying for visas, including the submission of applications through a courier service, Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal has said.

These steps were intended to help people who previously had to travel to Islamabad to apply for a visa, Sabharwal said during an interaction with reporters after visiting the Bhutto family mausoleum at Garhi Khuda Bux in southern Sindh province yesterday.

Asked by reporters about the reopening of the Indian Consulate in Karachi, Sabharwal said this was one of the issues discussed by India and Pakistan after the resumption of their peace talks last year.

Even as talks on the issue were continuing, Indian authorities had taken steps to address the problems of people from areas like Sindh who want to apply for visas, the envoy said.

After the Indian Consulate in Karachi was closed in 1994, people from far-flung areas had complained about the problems they faced in travelling to Islamabad to personally apply for visas.

At the Bhutto family mausoleum, Sabharwal visited the graves of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto, her father and former President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, his wife Nusrat Bhutto and laid wreaths.

He observed silence for a few minutes as a mark of respect.