New Delhi: Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has rejected over 50% visa applications filed by Pakistani nationals in last 5 months this year.
According to a report published in The Economic Times, the issue of rejection of such a large number of visa applications has also been raised by Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Gautam Bambawale during his recent meeting with Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi.
Quoting government data, the report says that a total of 35,021 Pakistani nationals applied for visa from January 1 to May 31 this year. Out of these, visa was given to 17, 481 Pakistani nationals only and the rest 17,540 applications were rejected.
The report further points out that in the year 2015, 31,000 visas were granted to Pakistani nationals and only 8,800 applications were rejected. Similarly in the year 2014, out of 47,000 applicants, visas were given to more than 39, 000 Pakistani nationals.
In 2015, only 8,800 cases were rejected while more than 31,000 visas were granted out of 39,800 applications.