INDIA; Pakistani Envoy For Liberal Visa Regime For Religious Tourism

Pakistan would like a liberalised visa regime with India to facilitate pilgrimages across the border and boost religious tourism, according to Abdul Basit, Pakistan's High Commissioner to India.

"We would like to see our visa regime liberalised in the context of religious tourism so that people can visit easily and freely from both sides," Basit said here today.

The Pakistani envoy was speaking at the launch of a book "Lost Heritage: The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan" by Singapore-based author Amardeep Singh.

According to Basit, religious tourism is scheduled to be one of the major talking points once the two countries resume dialogue, in an attempt to enable more Indians to travel to the neighbouring country for pilgrimage.

"There have been many proposals as to how to facilitate more Sikh pilgrims going to Pakistan and in this context I can tell you that recently the two governments agreed that they will have religious tourism as one of the main subjects of the dialogue process.

"So, we hope as and when our dialogue resumes, religious tourism will become an important subject of our discussions.

The two sides will be able to take concrete steps towards promoting religious tourism because there is deep mutual desire to facilitate religious tourism," he said.

Referring to several failed attempts towards having a "corridor" for easier travel of citizens across the border, the Ambassador said it could materialise only if the two countries "stick together and work together".

"Unfortunately for decades now, we have been reflecting on this but so far we have not been able to move ahead into implementing the proposal of having a corridor," he said.

Urging for support from India, he said, "I can assure you that our incumbent government under the leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is very much committed towards doing this. Now it takes two to tango."

The book "Lost Heritage: The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan" chronicles the author's month-long travel in Pakistan and gives an insight into the Sikh heritage in the neighbouring country between the 15th and the 21st centuries.

Disagreeing with the author over the "lost" heritage, Basit said the Pakistan government takes minorities "very seriously" and has been preserving their heritage.

"Although they form 2-3 per cent of our total population, they are an important part of our national mosaic. And, there is simply no reason we can dispense with our minorities.

"We are proud that all minorities including Sikhs are contributing immensely to our national development. We share this heritage and we take great pride in it. So, there is no question that Pakistan should do anything that would be against the interest of the minorities," he said.

The Pakistani envoy said his government had formed a separate ministry for minorities and given them quota in government and educational institutions.

He said the Hindu population in Pakistan had gone up from 1.3 per cent to 1.6 per cent since Partition.

"Out of the 23 per cent of the Hindu population in Pakistan, more than 21 per cent were in the then East Pakistan and not West Pakistan. So, today you will be surprised to know that Hindu minority in Pakistan has actually increased from 1.3 to 1.6 per cent contrary to what the general opinion of the facts are," he said.

BELARUS: Visa Regime Between Belarus And Pakistan, What Happened?

The meeting and negotiations between the prime ministers of Belarus and Pakistan did not come out with any announcements about a soft visa regime of tangible steps for direct air connection between the two countries.

Although Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Belarusian Prime Minister Andrey Kobyakov decided to boost bilateral trade to $1 billion and signed 18 agreements, they did not explain how this trade could be possible without land or air - direct or even indirect - connections between the two countries.

According to Dispatch News Desk (DND) news agency, in a joint press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday after one-on-one talks, Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, and his Belarusian counterpart, Andrey Kobyakov, said that they had a very productive round of talks that reviewed progress and agreed on concrete steps to further enhance their bilateral cooperation.

They announced an agreement for developing a roadmap for economic cooperation between Pakistan and Belarus, but documents signed by them did not explain this road map, because all documents are almost a form of MOUs without giving details, budget, or nature of resources that would be given by both countries to contacts in the future. They also expressed the resolve to increase their bilateral trade up to $1 billion with a focus on industrial cooperation, agriculture, and infrastructure development. This indicates that Belarus will be provided land and opportunities for constructing heavy mechanical industries in Pakistan, but again no contract was signed to provide special incentives or lands to Belarus by Pakistan.

Both prime ministers agreed on strengthening ties at the governmental and people-to-people levels for the mutual benefit of their countries. However, no announcement was made about a soft visa regime for people-to-people contact. Right now, Belarus did not provide a tourist visa to Pakistanis, and its visa regime is very difficult about Pakistanis.

The two countries inked seven Agreements, six Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) and three Protocols to Agreements, in addition to the two Programs on Roadmaps during the visit of Belarusian Prime Minister Andrey Kobyakov to Islamabad. To understand the nature of the contracts, one can read details of them here.

AGREEMENTS

The two Prime Ministers also signed an Agreement between their governments on mutual allotment of the land of plots for their respective diplomatic missions in Islamabad and Minsk.

The inter-governmental Agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters was signed by Advisor to the PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister of Belarus Valentin Rybakov.

The Agreement between the Health Ministries of Pakistan and Belarus on cooperation in public health was signed by State Minister for National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar and Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister of Belarus Valentin Rybakov.

The Agreement on cooperation between the government of Punjab and the Minsk Region Executive Committee of Belarus was signed by Chief Secretary Punjab Khizar Hayat Gondal and Deputy Chairman of Minsk Regional Executive Committee Mr. O.Plavski.

The Agreement on cooperation between the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and the Brest Branch of Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) was inked by President KCCI Younis Muhammad Bashir and Chairman BCCI Mr. M.Miatlikov.

The Agreement on cooperation between the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and the Mogilev Branch of Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) was inked by President Lahore CCI Sheikh Muhammad Arshad and Chairman BCCI Mr. M.Miatlikov.

The Agreement between the City District Government, Lahore, Punjab, and the Mogilev Regional Executive Committee (MREC) on the establishment and development of commerce-economic, scientific-technical, and cultural ties was signed by Chief Secretary Punjab Khizar Hayat Gondal and Deputy Chairman MREC Mr V.Nekrashevich.

PROTOCOLS

The Protocol to the Agreement on mutual cooperation between the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (Pakistan) and Ministry of Education (Belarus) in the field of education was signed by State Minister for Education Balighur Rehman and Education Minister of Belarus Mr. Zhuravkov.

The Cooperation Protocol between the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad, and the Belarusian State University, Minsk, was signed by Special Assistant to PM Tariq Fatemi and Education Minister of Belarus Mr. Zhuravkov.

The Protocol on cooperation between the government of Balochistan and the Brest Regional Executive Committee, Belarus, was inked by Chief Secretary Balochistan Saifullah Chattha and Deputy Chairman of Brest Regional Executive Committee Mr. A.Klets.

MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING (MOUs)

Two MOUs were signed between the Ministry for National Food Security and Research, Pakistan, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Belarus, on cooperation in the veterinary and sanitary fields and also in the field of plant quarantine and application of phyto-sanitary measures. The respective Ministers Sikandar Hayat Bosan and Mr. Zayats signed the documents.

The MOU on cooperation between the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Vitebsk Region, Belarus, was signed by Chief Secretary KPK Amjad Ali Khan and Chairman of Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Mr. N.Shertnev.

The government of Sindh signed two MOUs on trade-economic, scientific-technical, and cultural-humanitarian collaboration with Gomel Regional Executive Committee, Belarus, and the Regional Executive Committee of Grodno, Belarus. The respective documents were signed by Chief Secretary, Sindh Siddique Memon, Deputy Chairman of Gomel Regional Executive Committee Mr. A.Pirshtouk, and Deputy Chairman of Grodno Regional Executive Committee Mr. Y.Shuleiko.

The MOU between Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) and Minsk Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) was inked by President ICCI Atif Ikram Sheikh and Chairman MCCI Mr. M. Miatlikov.