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PoK integral part of India, one doesn't need to get Pakistan Govt letter for medical visa in India : Sushma Swaraj

by India Blooms News Service 18 Jul 2017, 08:28 am

New Delhi, Jul 18 (IBNS) : Sending out a strong message to Pakistan, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday confirmed a medical visa for a young man from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, asserting no one from PoK needs letter from the Pakistan Government as the area is an integral part of India.

"POK is an integral part of India. Pakistan has illegally occupied it. We are giving him visa. No letter required," Swaraj tweeted.

Her tweet came after Osama Ali, a resident of PoK sought medical visa for treatment in Delhi for a liver tumour.

Osama Ali had said that Pakistan's Foreign Ministry adviser Sartaj Aziz had refused to write to the Indian High Commission for his visa.

"Osama Ali will certainly get a visa and he does not need any letter from Pakistan," Swaraj emphasized in response.

Earlier this month,  Swaraj had said in a series of tweets that Pakistani citizens requesting a medical visa to travel to India must have a letter from their foreign ministry.

She criticised  Aziz saying he had "not shown the courtesy to acknowledge" her letter on a visa for the mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian sentenced to death in Pakistan.

"Any Pakistani asking for a medical visa, however, would be granted one immediately if Mr Aziz recommended it," she had tweeted. 

 "I have my sympathies for all Pakistan nationals seeking medical visa for their treatment in India. All that we require is his recommendation for the grant of medical visa to Pakistan nationals," Swaraj had said. 

However, her Tuesday's tweet suggests India's reaction to Pakistan's move to  declare Gilgit-Baltistan in PoK as a new province.