It asks India to revoke get cancelling issued visas.
A week soon after the Governing administration of India cancelled all existing visas for Afghan nationals seeking to vacation to India, and instituted the “e-visa only” technique following reports that Taliban gunmen had stolen a lot of passports, the sole Indian visa agency has denied any passports have been missing or misplaced.
In a letter to the Ministry of Exterior Affairs (MEA), a copy of which The Hindu has viewed, proprietors of Shahir Travel Agency that has managed Indian visas since 2009, have asked the federal government to revoke the order dated August 25, and also to expedite the e-visa program to permit legitimate instances of students, businesspersons, and some others associated with India in the past who could need to depart Afghanistan urgently.
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“We have prepared to the Government of India with our incredibly respectable concerns… The problem this bogus news has produced is that the latest staff in electrical power [Taliban] have been accused of some thing they did not do and that puts all our Kabul employees in threat. As a result, we have to publicly and vociferously refute all the phony information in the Indian media,” Muhammad Karim, CEO of Shahir Journey Company (STA), the sole Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) in Kabul, told The Hindu.
In accordance to Mr. Karim, Taliban associates now in charge of Kabul had visited their workplaces, alongside with other offices and firms in the city, but at no level have been passports that contains Indian visas taken by them or misplaced.
“All the visas that had been issued by the Embassy had been done so following comprehensive security examine in Kabul. NIC (Nationwide Informatics Centre of India) maintains specifics of all visa sticker issued and biometrics captured,” the agency’s letter reported, introducing that the governing administration could match the passport holders at any time necessary.
No responses from MEA
MEA officers declined to comment on the letter despatched by STA. They explained it was not likely that the govt would revoke its choice, given uncertainty over the protection situation in Afghanistan, and especially right after the deadline for all foreign troops to go away the country expires on Tuesday. As The Hindu has reported earlier, the MHA (Ministry of Dwelling Affairs) has delayed issuing any e-visas, as it is challenging to conduct security checks on candidates without having area inputs as the Indian Embassy in Kabul is shut down.
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On August 27, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the decision to cancel countless numbers of visas formerly issued to Afghan nationals experienced been made next experiences of folks “raiding one of our outsourcing organizations, where Afghan passports with Indian visas were there,” but did not mention who was liable for the reports. A number of media agencies had suggested that the be concerned was that a Pakistan-backed group or intelligence organizations may perhaps have taken the passports in order to use them for terror assaults in India.
‘Office working normally’
Mr. Karim flatly denied the possibility. He said the agency would not jeopardise Indian interests, owning labored intently with the embassy for additional than a 10 years. He also stated that the STA business office was operating usually at present, and Afghan citizens who had deposited their passports for the Indian visa were becoming returned their journey documents, as and when they had been equipped to check out the company.
“We sincerely hope to start out our association with the Embassy of India when Indian Officials selected to return. But we surely experience we should have the help of Governing administration of India and do not would like to be still left in the lurch. We request that this be clarified instantly by MEA on a community system,” the agency claimed.
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To a concern on how quite a few passports have been in their custody, the STA said it was continue to certain by a contract with the Federal government of India and could not divulge particulars.