India denies blocking medical visas for Pak

India on Wednesday denied having blocked medical visas for Pakistani citizens. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay, however, admitted that procedure has been revisited, where an applicant needs a letter of recommendation from the Pakistan Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz alongwith visa application. He said Indian High Commission in Islamabad has been asked to process medical visa applications for Pakistani citizens immediately if they are attached with the recommendation letter.

"We have suggested that their Foreign Minister or Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaz Aziz give a recommendation letter and it will be cleared immediately, without any delay," he said, adding the insistence on a recommendation letter would enable to ascertain that the requests received from Pakistan are genuine.

He also referred to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj herself receiving these requests from Pakistani nationals on social media and on emails. "It is difficult to ascertain authenticity of such requests," he added. He also asserted that "in previous years, thousands of medical visas have been issued to Pakistani citizens to come to India and benefit from the health facilities here." India's decision to impose the condition on medical visas for Pakistani nationals comes in the backdrop of growing tension in Indo-Pak ties due to the retired Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav episode and the recent beheading of two Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir.