Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Tuesday summoned an Indian diplomat to hand over a demarche in protest against non-issuance of visas to Pakistani squash players, who are going to take part in the Asian Senior’s Individual (Squash) Championship (ASIC) being held in Chennai from today (Wednesday).

The championship will end on April 30.

Sources in the Foreign Office told Daily Times that Pakistani squash players were denied visas despite the fact that Pakistan was the defending champion. Pakistan had won the title last year. However, Indian denial of visas to Pakistani squash players has deprived Pakistan squash players the chance to defend their title.

Diplomatic sources said that the Indian diplomat had been informed of Pakistan’s grave concern on the successive Indian bids to deprive Pakistani sportsmen of the opportunity to showcase their skills at the championship.

The official said that the Indian High Commission had not given any reason for not granting the visas.

“The Squash Federation had been informed, but there was no response,” the official said.

“It is unfortunate to note that India has been using these tactics to isolate Pakistani talent. Whether it is cricket, hockey, squash or any other sport, India adopts a selective approach to target Pakistani players,” the official said.

The official added that Pakistani Squash Federation had applied to the Indian High Commission for the visas of its six-member team, including four players, one coach and a manager on April 17.

“The team included Pakistan’s number-one ranked squash player Farhan Mehboob, Farhan Zaman, Waqar Mehboob and Muhammad Tayyab,” the official said and added that Tayyab had recently won squash title in Iran.

The official said that the federation had decided to immediately take up the issue with the Asian Squash Federation as well as the International Squash Federation. It is not the first time that India has denied visas to Pakistani sportsmen.