The decision by India to relax the rules on medical visas for Pakistanis could not have come at a more opportune time. Celebrating its 71st Independence Day, India did well to revive the efficacy and humanitarian impetus of this matter with the assurance that all bona fide cases pending with the Indian government, which had been forwarded by the then Foreign Ministry of Pakistan, will be looked into. What’s more, medical visa applicants will no longer be required to procure a letter of recommendation from Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry.
The latter aspect is equally significant in light of the recent changes in the political circumstances in Pakistan and ensures that despite the flux, urgent cases will not suffer occlusion due to procedural obstacles.
The policy decision by India is like a strong ray of light — in an otherwise bleak scenario of neighbourly discord and distrust — that throws into welcome relief the triumph of humane policies in the face of political rhetoric on both sides. There are almost 500 patients from Pakistan seeking medical treatment in India every month, primarily for complicated health conditions and the prioritisation of this matter on purely humanitarian grounds needs no overstating. For every one of these individuals and their families seeking medical succour across the border, their predicament is not a matter to be subjected to political grandstanding or the whims of diplomacy. On the contrary, such situations call for a more mature policy vision that accords the dignity that civilians in need deserve, irrespective of which side of the border they belong to.
India has taken the right decision in viewing this reality with the unclouded eye of compassion and extending help.
