Sushma asks Indian mission in Pak to grant visa to woman

New Delhi: In yet another humanitarian gesture, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday asked the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to grant a visa to a Pakistani woman for a liver transplant in India.

Her intervention came after Sadia, the ailing woman’s daughter, requested Sushma to grant a visa to her mother. “We will certainly help. I have asked Indian High Commission in Pakistan to issue visa for the liver transplant of your mother. @IndiainPakistan,” Sushma said in a tweet.

To a request for medical visa by another Pakistani national Nasir Mahmood Ahmed, Sushma said the Indian mission in Pakistan will examine his papers and send her a report. Ahmed, in a tweet to Sushma, said he wants to undergo liver and kidney transplant in India.

To a plea by Pakistani national Hira Azhar for a medical visa for her father, Sushma asked her to contact the Indian Mission in Riyadh in this connection. “Pls contact @IndianEmbRiyadh. We will give medical visa for the liver transplant of your father in India,” Swaraj said on the micro-blogging site.

Earlier, Hira, currently based in Saudi Arabia, had said, “@SushmaSwaraj My dad’s only hope is an urgent liver transplant. We are Pakistanis in KSA and waiting for the visa to India. Please help.” Sushma has been adopting a humanitarian approach in granting visas to Pakistani nationals on medical ground notwithstanding a strain in relationship between the two countries over a host of sticky issues, including cross-border terrorism.