With no passport, visa, Rlys team seeks to cross Attari to meet Pak counterparts

The delegation insisted that they be allowed to cross over to Wagah where their counterparts were waiting for the meeting.

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According to an official, only BSF, Pakistani Rangers and Army personnel of both nations can cross over to each other’s side for flag meetings without any visa.

Sources said that it was only following the intervention of Foreigners’ Regional Registration Officer S N Sharma, who reached the Attari JCP from Amritsar to “diffuse the impasse”, that the Railway delegation relented.

The delegation was told that without any travel documents, the Railway officials would not be allowed to cross over to the Pakistani side.

All what the Railway delegation, sources told, was carrying was a permission from the Ministry of External Affairs to hold a meeting with Pakistani Railway officials, which the authorities at Attari told the delegation was “not enough”.

“None of the delegation members had any passport with them. In fact, besides the 12 members of the delegation, two others among them a photographer, was also there to cross over to other side of zero line in connection with the meeting with Railway officials of Pakistan.

“This was the first meeting after I joined as Divisional Railway Manager (Ferozepur). When I joined I was informed there was no need to get a visa for participating in a meeting at zero line,” said DRM Ferozepur Anuj Prakash.

“Between various agencies of the central government at Attari ICP, there are some procedural issues that need to be sorted out to avoid a similar situation in future,” said Prakash, who went to Attari Railway Station later to make a call to his Pakistani counterpart that the delegation from India would not be able to come for the meeting.

“I also held a meeting with Customs officials, CWC officials and Immigration officials at Attari. We are planning to start a container movement for the goods and plans for the same were to be discussed,” said the DRM. “The meeting with Pakistani Railway officials would be held soon. I think there should be such meeting between both sides at regular intervals,” the DRM added.

Asked if the delegation would next time cross over after obtaining visa, the DRM said, “We will go by what we are told by the Attari ICP, and the Attari ICP comprises BSF, Immigration, Customs and Central Warehousing Corporation.”