New Delhi, November 3: India may issue 4,000-5,000 visas to Pakistani cricket fans for the India-Pakistan series beginning on December 25. Visitors may also be considered for multi-city visa under the new visa regime, getting a chance to visit all five venues through a single entry.
Although the new visa regime between the countries, signed in September, is yet to be operationalised, efforts are on to give it a push ahead of the cricket series.
Under the new visa regime, a person can visit five places instead of the three at present. Since the cricket matches will be played in five cities, it may give an opportunity to cricket lovers to avail the benefit of visiting all the five places if they stay back for the entire series.
Acting swiftly on the issue, the government has set up a high-level special committee to work out modalities for granting visa and framing strict guidelines for the visitors so that everyone returns after the cricket series.
The committee, comprising officials from home ministry and security agencies, will devise a strict 'reporting' mechanism where all visitors will have to inform the local police authorities about their travel plans, including the addresses of their stay in India. The panel will have its first meeting on Monday. The final decision whether to allow Pakistani spectators to visit one or more cities (up to five) will be taken before November 10.
"The effort will be to have a strict monitoring system in place before granting them visas so that the visitors can be tracked once the cricket series is over," an official said.
Security agencies do not want to take any chances, keeping in view how Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists and 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Sajid Wajid alias Sajid Mir and Major Abdur Rehman had taken advantage of a cricket match in Mohali to enter India in 2005 when they recced 'future' targets.
The two came to India to watch the game in Mohali but went to Mumbai, Delhi and other cities to scout for targets. Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley - who did surveillance for 26/11 targets - had during his interrogation narrated how the Lashkar terrorists took advantage of the cricket match to enter India.
"We don't want to take any chance and therefore the ministry has already sensitized all states where matches are to be played between December 25 and January 6," the official said.
India and Pakistan will play two T20 matches (Bangalore and Ahmedabad) and three one-day internationals (Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi). The last match, in Delhi on January 6, may see some Pakistani dignitaries in attendance.
The home ministry on Tuesday gave security clearance for the India-Pakistan series and assured the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) of foolproof security in coordination with states.
The two countries have not played a bilateral series since Pakistan's tour of India in 2007 after cricket ties were snapped following the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
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