Pant-Mirza Agreement - Bilateral Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of External Affairs
19-July, 2017 18:20 IST
Pant-Mirza Agreement

Visits by nationals of India and Pakistan to mutually agreed list of religious shrines in each other’s country are facilitated under the ‘Bilateral Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines’ signed in September 1974. This includes visits to shrines of Hazrat Moinuddin Chishti (Ajmer), Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya (Delhi), Hazrat Amir Khusro (Delhi), Hazrat Mujaddid Alf Sani (Sirhind Sharif) and Hazrat Khwaja Alauddin Ali Ahmed Sabir (Kalyar Sharif) in India and Shadani Darbar (Hyat Pitafi), Shri Katasraj Dham (Lahore), Gurudwaras of Shri Nankana Sahib (Rawalpindi), Shri Panja Sahib (Rawalpindi) and Shri Dera Sahib (Lahore) in Pakistan.

Under the Protocol it is the obligation of the concerned country to make every effort to ensure that the places of worship in the agreed list of shrines under the Protocol are properly maintained and their sanctity preserved. Government of India ensures that these Shrines in India are properly maintained and their sanctity preserved.

This information was given by Gen. (Dr.) V.K. Singh (Retd), the Minister of State for External Affairs, in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Home Affairs
08-August, 2017 17:57 IST
Visa norms for Pakistan

Multiple entry Business Visa upto 3 years can be issued to Pakistan nationals of assured financial standing and credentials with visits restricted upto 15 places (excluding Restricted/Prohibited/Protected Areas). The India Business Card is issued to those businessmen from SAARC countries who are eligible for issuance of multiple entry business visa for a period of three years or more.

There is no objection to the criteria/ guidelines for issuing above referred business visa and Business Card to the businessmen from Pakistan.

India Business Card has a special logo and is given to those businessmen from SAARC countries who are eligible for multiple entry Business Visa for three years or more.

As per exiting FDI policy, a citizen of Pakistan or an entity incorporated in Pakistan can invest, only under the Government route, in sectors/activities other than defence, space and atomic energy and sectors/activities prohibited for foreign investment.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju in a written reply to question by Smt. Kothapalli Geetha in the Lok Sabha today.

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Ministry of Home Affairs08-August, 2017 17:53 IST
Overstay of Foreigners

The number of visas issued under various categories to Pakistan and Bangladesh nationals during the years 2014 and 2015 are as follows:



Year
Pakistan
Bangladesh

2014
94,993
6,52,919

2015
77,543
7,51,044




Law enforcing agencies maintain a vigil to intercept the foreigners overstaying in India. FRROs under Bureau of Immigration are instructed to conduct special drives for identification of overstaying foreigners in their jurisdiction and initiate necessary action for deportation.


The number of foreign nationals staying illegally are not available. However, number of foreigners convicted under Foreigners Act during the last three years are as follows:



Year
Foreigners convicted*

2014
1,845

2015
1,442

2016
2,476


* The data in this regard is available upto 2016.


Law and order is a State subject. No information is available centrally on the expenditure incurred on keeping such people in custody.


Central Government is vested with powers to deport a foreign national illegally staying in the country under Section 3(2)(c) of the Foreigners Act, 1946. These powers to identify, detect and deport illegally staying foreign nationals have also been delegated to the State Govts/UT Administrations. Detection and deportation of such over-staying foreign nationals is a continuous process. In genuine cases, where the overstay is unintentional or because of ignorance or under compelling circumstances, the period of overstay is regularized and visa extension fee is charged for the overstay period. Where the overstay is found to be intentional, the foreigner is served with Leave India Notice and penalty/ visa fee for the period of overstay is charged as per instructions.


This was stated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju in a written reply to question by Shri Vishnu Dayal Ram, Shri Bharat Singh and Shri Rakesh Singh in the Lok Sabha today.


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[karakoram]

I wish i could travel to india and meet the common people not the pdf indian who are hate mongers. So i could record their feelings and share it with my friends here in Pakistan peshawar. But i know i won't get visa