Why was there a delay in Pakistan getting India's visa for the World Cup?

 

The latest news regarding the World Cup is related to the issue of Pakistan visa delay

The World Cup is so close that only a few days are left for the first match between England and New Zealand. Still, the controversy is not leaving the tournament. After all the rescheduling of events, the latest drama in the World Cup is the issue of delay in getting visas for Pakistan. Yes, the Pakistan cricket team players were finally issued their visas on Monday – 48 hours before their scheduled departure for India – but not before the matter escalated. After the final team was cleared for the trip by the Indian government, the PCB had to write to the ICC seeking its intervention to resolve the issue. This created a stir in many countries including ICC, PCB, and BCCI.

Last Friday, concerns regarding visas for Pakistan came to light. As per the original plan, the players were to fly to the UAE for a few days as part of a team-building exercise and then reach India two days before the World Cup warm-up against New Zealand in Hyderabad. However, with the visa still stuck at the Indian High Commission, those plans could not be completed. But this was not the only matter of concern. PCB expressed displeasure over the indifference of India and BCCI when all nine teams except Pakistan were given visas but their hands were also tied.

In the first week of August, the Home Ministry had written to the BCCI that "Security clearance of Ministry of Home Affairs is required for the event (World Cup) only if there are foreign participant from the PRC countries i.e., Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan, foreigners of Pakistani Origin and Stateless persons." Given the tense history between India and Pakistan and the reluctance of either team to travel to the other country, there was no way this would be a time-consuming process.

When did Pakistan apply for its visa?

Visa applications were made available to teams in late August, but Pakistan faced delays due to its participation in the Asia Cup. Given the unique hybrid model of the tournament, which required players to travel back and forth to Sri Lanka for league and Super Four matches, Pakistan had requested permission to submit applications without their passports. But his request was rejected, leaving him with no option but to wait until the entire team returned home to submit their passports.

On 19 September, both the application and the passport were finally submitted. Having said that, there was no official update in the next few days, which increased the PCB's concern. The process of issuing visas was not expedited until Monday following the PCB's official communication with the ICC regarding the alleged lack of accountability. The fact that Pakistan got the green signal for visa clearance within a week is not really a significant delay, all things considered.

Could Pakistan's late announcement of the team be a reason?

It is unlikely that the delay was caused by the squad announcement on 22 September, as visa applications had already been submitted by then. Basically, the PCB knew which players would be part of their World Cup line-up. Additionally, there were teams that were announced much later, but still, none of them faced delays.

The root cause behind this entire situation can be attributed to two main factors: the Asia Cup and the ongoing tension between the two countries. Had the entire tournament been held in Pakistan, visa applications could have been submitted on time, thereby avoiding the need to travel to Sri Lanka and back again and again. Additionally, better relations between the two countries could have expedited the workflow. After all, cricket teams from India and Pakistan have not toured each other's countries for a bilateral series since 2012, and even the last time Pakistan toured India for the T20 World Cup was seven years ago in 2016.