Pakistani team denied visas due to lack of NOC from Indian home ministry

ISLAMABAD: The issuance of visas to the Pakistan cricket team is pending due to a delay in the issuance of No-Objection Certificates by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs, sources have revealed.

According to Jang’s sources, the documentation for the 25-member squad was dispatched two weeks ago. However, the Indian High Commission requires an NOC from its Ministry of Home Affairs to proceed with visa issuance.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had also contacted the International Cricket Council (ICC) regarding this matter, to which the global cricket governing body responded that work on visas was in progress and would be issued soon.

Read more: World Cup Snag: Pakistani team not yet issued visas

The visa delay is nothing new and it only highlights the political tension between India and Pakistan. Travel between the countries has been limited ever since the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 which also halted the bilateral ties between India and Pakistan.

Since that unfortunate event, only one bilateral series between India and Pakistan has taken place and that was when Misbah-ul-Haq-led Pakistan travelled to India in 2012-13 for a short white-ball series.

India have not travelled to Pakistan for a bilateral series since 2006. The last time an Indian cricket team visited Pakistan was in the 2008 Asia Cup.

This will be Pakistan’s first visit to India after the 2016 T20 World Cup.

Apart from left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz, who was a part of that squad, It will be the first trip to India for all the other members of Pakistan’s 15-man World Cup squad.