ISLAMABAD: The Indian government has denied visa to a Pakistani student from the tribal region, who was admitted to pursue a one-year Post Graduate course in Journalism at the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ) in Chennai, India. Said Rasool Betani, 25, from Frontier Region Tank, said he was selected as a South Asian Foundation (SAF) scholar from Pakistan to study at the ACJ in the academic year 2017-18. SAF, founded and chaired by UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Madanjeet Singh, has endowed yearly fully funded scholarships for the students from each of the SAARC countries, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to study in ACJ. Under the programme several SAF scholars from SAARC countries, including Pakistan, are study. Betani told Daily Times that the Indian government’s decision to reject his visa application shocked him as he was not expecting such a decision. “I had to go through many selection interviews and at last only I was selected from overall Pakistan and only for TV Stream in Eight SAARC countries,” he said. Betani said he had applied for the Indian visa in the first week of June because his course was scheduled to start from 3rd July 2017. “Just two days ago, I received reply from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad that they have not found to issue my visa in current circumstances,” he said. “It was a big opportunity for me to get admission in this course but the so-called circumstances blocked my way to get the Indian visa,” disappointed Betani went on to say. He said he had Tweeted to the Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj on her official Twitter about his visa problem a few days ago, but she never replied. “I am a civilian, student and from the middle class. I request Sushma Swaraj, Please take action on my visa problem and grant me student visa for study there in ACJ,” he said. Former Indian minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, SAF chairperson in India, had also sent emails to Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad Gautam Bambawale, requesting him to issue visa to Betani. “I am sorry to inform you that under the current circumstances, we have not found it possible to issue a visa to Mr. Said Rasool Betani,” the Indian High Commissioner told Aiyar in one of his emails. He later said he will take up this matter with the external affairs minister “but with little hope of a satisfactory outcome”. The Indian Express reported in April that New Delhi was quietly moving ahead with curbs on visas for Pakistani nationals visiting India, with artists, singers and actors likely to be the first group to be singled out for maximum visibility and impact. The reported decision was described as the first retaliatory step from India in the wake of the death sentence handed out to Indian navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav by a Pakistani military court on charges of spying. India has now approached the International Court of Justice that asked Pakistan in May to “take all measures to ensure that Jadhav is not executed till the final decision of this court”. Published in Daily Times, July 10th , 2017.