India's External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid yesterday said the government followed proper procedures in giving a visa to former Pakistan cricket captain Javed Miandad, whose visit has sparked off a political controversy
Miandad, now a senior official of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), would arrive in India on January 5 to watch a one-day cricket match between India and Pakistan in New Delhi the following day.
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Javed Miandad
“It’s a decision that has been taken by the government. I can’t blame the home ministry, I cannot blame ourselves; it’s a decision taken by the government. What are the circumstances, what is considered, when is the approval given, what goes into it is something that is an internal government matter,” Khurshid told reporters here.
The visit of Miandad, whose son Junaid is married to Mahrukh, daughter of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, wanted in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, has sparked a controversy with leaders of the Congress and the Shiv Sena demanding his visa be cancelled.
Khurshid said the media was not supposed to question the government’s decision. “It’s not your (media) job to ask these questions. It is a job that the home ministry has to ask and answer itself and they have taken a decision. No Pakistani visa gets cleared without home ministry clearance and the ministry would take inputs from all agencies, including from our missions abroad. And, I think that’s an internal procedure,” said the minister.
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