Mumbai: The Press Club Mumbai and a Pakistan-India peace forum has urged the Pakistani government to renew the visas of two Indian journalists who have been asked to leave the country.

Meena Menon of The Hindu newspaper and Snehesh Alex Phillip of the Press Trust of India, who are stationed in Islamabad, have been denied renewal of visas and asked to leave the country.

While they were not given any order in writing, they were told to leave the country in a week’s time.

The two arrived in Pakistan in August last year and their visas expired in March. Since then both have been trying hard to get their visas renewed.

The reasons for their forced departure remain unknown and it also is unclear whether the organisations they work for will be able to replace them.

The Press Club has recorded its protest with the High Commissioner of Pakistan, Abdul Basit, urging him to help reverse the decision so that the two can continue reporting from Pakistan.

The Press Club is of the opinion that asking Indian journalists to leave Pakistan will send the wrong message and only help hardliners on both sides of the border.

Meanwhile, Asha Hans and Jatin Desai, co-Chairperson and secretary of the Indian Chapter of the Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), respectively, issued a statement that read: “We are of the opinion that asking Indian journalists to leave Pakistan will send a wrong message at a critical juncture when elections are taking place and will only help hardliners. In a global world and especially when Indians and Pakistanis want closer ties and a much more open visa policy, we are of the opinion that both countries should allow more journalists in to each other’s country.”

A few months ago, the Karachi and Mumbai Press Clubs, in a joint statement, called on both governments to increase the presence of journalists in the two countries to four instead of two.

“This was backed by members of the government of both India and Pakistan,” said Desai. “However, we regret to note that the Pakistan government has spurned the spirit of the joint resolution of the two press clubs,” he added.

The two countries have an agreement that allows two journalists in the each other’s capital: one from a news agency and one from a newspaper.

There hasn’t been a Pakistani journalist in Delhi since 2011.

The Forum also feel that such moves will also fly in the face of recent statements of Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, and Basit who have been pushing for regional cooperation between neighbours in South Asia and have emphasised on continuing dialogue irrespective of the party that comes to power in India.