LAHORE – Pakistani sports journalists have been denied visa by Indian authorities despite an official invite by the neighbouring country’s hockey board.
Correspondents and reporters from Lahore say they received last Thursday an invitation by Hockey India to cover the upcoming hockey world cup in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. However, TCS, a Pakistani courier service company which accepts applications of accredited sports journalists, has flatly refused to take in their visa requests, they added.
The 14th edition of the World Cup — featuring teams from 16 nations divided into four pools — is being staged in the Indian city of Bhubaneswar from Nov 28 to Dec 16.
When asked for a diplomatic intervention by the sports journalists, an Indian visa counselor flatly refused to accept the visa requests citing the less ‘time remaining for the event”.
“…. as detailed on our website, it takes 35-45 working days to obtain relevant clearances from India for the issue of a visa. Given the time remaining for the event, we will not be able to accept your visa application,” according to the statement from the Indian consulate.
The Pakistani media men say they were shocked to see the response from the diplomatic staff as they had just received the invitation letter.
“How could we apply for the (India) visa without an invitation,” Zain Malik, a local TV reporter, told Daily Pakistan.
They have now requested India’s Minister for External Affairs SushmaSwaraj to take notice over visa denial.
#Indian embassy in #Pakistan refuses to accept visa applications of Pakistani sports journalists, who have been invited to cover #HockeyWorldCup2018, starting from Nov 28. We request @SushmaSwaraj to take notice over visa denial.@PHFOfficial @Shoaib_Jatt @jatingandhi @Ajaybis pic.twitter.com/ZdGMhNTV8b
— Sarfraz Ali (@ItsSarfrazAli) November 15, 2018
Meanwhile, the Pakistan squad is likely to leave for India on Nov 22 or 23 after getting the visa, the process for which is currently ongoing.
The Pakistani hockey team last played in India on December 2.
