IEcoS (Economic Services) English: Questions 149 - 149 of 305

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Question 149

Appeared in Year: 2012

Describe in Detail Subjective▾

Make a precis of each of the following two passages in about one-third of the original length, using your own words. State the number of words used and suggest a suitable title to each.

(Note: The precis must be written only on the special sheets provided for the purpose, writing one word in each block. The sheets should be fastened securely inside the answer-book) . (30 Mark)

(a) Article 13 (2) of the UN Declaration of Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to leave any country” . There is, however, no consequential right to enter another country. This right gets vested in the nation-state, which adopts rules and regulations to regulate entry of persons. The governments use the instrumentality of visa to achieve this objective.

Visa has, therefore, become an important tool in achieving national objectives by all the governments. It is the same when the British Prime Minister wants to attract the best and the brightest from the world, including India, or opts for stringent visa conditions for the stay of international students from non-EU countries under domestic pressure, even though it weakens the links with the Commonwealth countries. It is the same when Malaysia adopts an “off and on” policy on granting visas to Indians on arrival, or India adopts a similar visa facility for a select group of countries. In diplomatic parlance, it is categorised as visa diplomacy.

Signing of the India- Pakistan Visa Agreement in September, replacing the 1974 Visa Agreement, falls in the armoury of visa diplomacy. The agreement was signed by the Foreign Ministers of the two countries and not by the Home Secretaries, even though all the contours had been finalised. This was to convey a diplomatic signal on the desire to improve bilateral relations. It is a forward movement as it liberalises the existing visa regime, as it existed under the 1974 Visa Agreement. Primarily, its focus was on overall liberalization on the visa conditions for travel between the two countries.

The main thrust is two-pronged. Firstly, to facilitate easy travel by all and, secondly, to facilitate travel by the business community and catering to their needs in keeping with the increase in bilateral trade. Three major changes were made in the visitor visa category, which include increasing the duration of validity of visa from three month s to six months and allowing visits to five places, instead of three, as in the past.

Another change was to provide flexibility on the points of arrival and departure and mode of travel, as hitherto the visitors had to enter and leave from the same point. Special provisions have been made for senior citizens above 65 years of age; they can be issued visa valid for two years with multiple entries and the same would be applicable to spouses belonging to the other nationality. In addition, senior citizens would also be accorded the facility of visa on arrival at the Attari-Wagah border, limited to 45 days.

A significant feature of the new visa policy is the creation of a separate category of business visa. Two categories of businessmen՚s visa are created, linked to the standing of the business in terms of income and turnover. Businessmen having an annual turnover of Pakistani rupees 30 million or income of Pakistani rupees 5 million would be granted one-year multiple entry visa valid for 10 places. In other cases, those with an income of Pakistani rupees half a million or turnover of Pakistani rupees three million would be given one-year visa, with four entries to five places. This meets the long-pending demand for multiple-entry visas for a longer duration.

Another new visa category was also introduced such as group tourist visa for 30 days for groups between 10 - 50 persons, organized by approved tour operators. These facilities would also be available to students of educational institutions. Both governments agreed to exchange details on tourist destinations and recognized tour operators. Another interesting feature was the fixing of the time limit for the processing of visa applications: 30 days for diplomatic visas, 45 days for non-diplomatic visas and 35 days for business visas.

Visa liberalization has been hailed as a major step as it is expected to bring about greater connectivity at the people-to-people level and help in further building commercial linkages, as the bilateral trade is expected to increase from the current level of $ 2·5 billion to $ 10 billion in a couple of years. It looks big optically, seen in the India-Pakistan context, although it is a small step and many more such steps are needed. (697 words) 232

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Explanation

Title: Visa Agreement between India and Pakistan

The governments use the instrumentality of visa to achieve the objective which adopts rules and regulations to regulate entry of persons. It is categorised as visa diplomacy. The India- Pakistan Visa Agreement falls in the armoury of visa diplomacy. This was to convey the desire to improve bilateral r…

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