AS both diplomats and political experts have stressed, one key way of improving Indo-Pakistan ties would be to bolster regional integration and trade. However, integration — as well as peace and normalisation — will remain a pipe dream unless the visa regime in the subcontinent is liberalised in the true sense of the word. Speaking at a programme in Lahore recently, Indian high commissioner Gautam Bambawale said there was no better way of improving relations between Pakistan and India than trade. This is quite true, while calls for an integrated and connected South Asia are also imminently sensible. But what are the respective governments doing to encourage trade or even people-to-people contact? Not much apparently. For example, the exercise of getting a visa for the other country by the average citizen remains a test of endurance and commitment. In Pakistan, citizens can apply for an Indian visa through courier services, which saves a trip to Islamabad. But the process is both lengthy and bureaucratic, with applicants having to secure ‘sponsorship’ letters from their Indian hosts, as well as attaching a thick file of paperwork. In India, those desiring to visit Pakistan have to come to New Delhi from across the far reaches of that vast land to lodge a visa application with the Pakistan High Commission.

If one is lucky enough to get a visa, the modes of transport to cross the border are relatively limited. For instance, the Thar Express — the train service that links Sindh and Rajasthan and which has been running for 10 years now — continues to suffer from inadequate infrastructure. Police reporting in both countries is also an odious, archaic procedure. Both governments can easily remedy this situation by easing visa procedures and making them less complicated, increasing the options for cross-border travel and reopening deputy high commissions in Karachi and Mumbai, respectively. Once people can freely meet and trade, and work with each other, the animosities of old can give way to a relationship based on trust and good neighbourliness.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2016