Bangladesh stopped Visas for Pakistanis
23, May 2019
Prelims level :
Mains level :
CONTEXT:
- The Bangladesh High Commission in Islamabad has stopped issuing visas to Pakistani nationals for one week.
- This is a mark of protest as a Bangladeshi diplomat’s visa-extension application has not
- been cleared by the Pakistan government for the last four months.
- In 2018, Dhaka denied a visa to the Pakistan High Commissioner.
BACKGROUND:
- Bangladesh has reportedly refused to accept the ‘agreement’ from Islamabad for the appointment of a new high commissioner.
- Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs named Saqlain Syedah as its new High Commissioner to Bangladesh, but Dhaka refused to accept the “agreement”, a diplomatic requirement under which a host country has to confirm the appointment of an incoming envoy.
- Bangladesh, which seceded from Pakistan in 1971, has accused Pakistan of financing terrorism on its soil. Bilateral ties have become so strained. Now it has halted granting visas to all Pakistanis