India says no to Pakistan wrestlers for Cadet Asian Wrestling Championship

Karachi: The Indian High Commission has refused visas to a contingent of wrestlers and officials from Pakistan who wanted to participate in the Cadet Asian Wrestling Championship, starting June 11 in New Delhi, according to a media report. Dawn news said the Indian authorities said they could not issue the visas because the Pakistan wrestling body failed to submit their documents on time for processing.

But an official of the Pakistan Wrestling Federation refuted the claim by Indian authorities insisting they had sent all their paperwork on time. “We sent in all required documents on time and that the applications were sitting with the Indian High Commission for days,” the official said.

This development comes one day after the Pakistan foreign ministry responded strongly to remarks made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Bangladesh on Pakistans alleged involvement in terrorism in neighbouring countries.

The foreign ministries in both countries were also embroiled in a spat over the non-issuance of visas to official missions. The PWF official said that besides hosts India, other participating countries included Iran, Uzbekistan, Kazakh-stan, Japan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, North and South Korea.