What Is SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme? Here's What Happens As India Cancels SVES For Pakistani Citizens
Any Pakistani citizen currently in India under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme has been asked to leave the country within 48 hours.
Following the April 22 Pahalgam attack, in which 26 people were killed by terrorists, India announced the cancellation of SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) for Pakistani nationals. Any Pakistani citizen currently in India under this scheme has been asked to leave the country within 48 hours.
Pakistani nationals will not be permitted to travel to India under SVES and any such visas issued in the past to Pakistani nationals are deemed cancelled, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Wednesday.
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The decision was one among several other steps taken during a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Wednesday chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attended by Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and other highly placed officials.
What Is SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme?
The SVES enables travel for select groups of individuals like dignitaries, judges of higher courts, parliamentarians, senior officials, businessmen, journalists, sportsmen without visa. A special travel document, known as ‘Visa Stickers’ are issued by the respective member states to the entitled categories of the country from where the individuals are travelling.
The visa facility enables the citizens of South Asian countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka – to travel among these countries visa-free.
The SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme was launched in 1992 to enable better cooperation among eminent citizens of South Asian countries to strengthen relationships. They decided that certain categories of dignitaries should be entitled to a special travel document, instead of visas to travel within the region.
The list of persons has 24 categories of individuals who can avail the SVES facility. The validity of the Visa Sticker is for one year. The member countries can review the scheme’s implementation from time to time.
Other Steps Announced After Pahalgam Attack
Apart from cancelling SVES for Pakistani nationals, India has also cut off military-diplomatic ties with the country. Defence, Navy, and Air Advisors posted at the Pakistani High Commission in Delhi have been declared persona non grata and ordered to leave within a week. India will also pull back its military advisors from Islamabad.
The Integrated Check Post at Attari Border in Amritsar has also been shut with immediate effect.
The CCS also decided that the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 will be held in abeyance with immediate effect, until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism, Misri said.
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