With flights come worries

MUMBAI: The Indo-Pak thaw may be the toast of political circles this winter, but with the resumption of Mumbai-Karachi flights, the headache has just got stronger for Indian security agencies.
For two years, the agencies did not have to bother much about illegal entry or infiltration by anti-national elements disguised as visitors from the neighbouring country as flights between the two cities were suspended.(Pakistan International Airways''s bi-weekly flights were stopped from January 1, 2002, after India broke ties with Pakistan in the aftermath of the Parliament attack.)
Now, the worry has returned—despite the fact that Pakistani passengers have to undergo rigorous security checks, just as Indians travelling to Pakistan have to.
On arrival in Mumbai, a Pakistani passenger is thoroughly screened at the immigration counter. In a separate visa application form, the person has to submit the names of places he plans to visit along with the names of his local referee in each place.
A Pakistani is not granted a visa unless he has a local referee, says an officer. A local referee is someone who stands guarantee for the visitor''s presence in India.
Precautions are taken to make sure a Pakistani does not lose his way. He is handed a residential permit form on which he needs to get the stamp of the foreign regional registration officer (FRRO) of the places he visits. An FRRO is the police superintendent of a district or a designated deputy commissioner of police in a city.
The FRRO issues an exit permit which is to be shown by the Pakistani passenger at the point of departure. The point of entry and exit are clearly mentioned on the visa form. He is not allowed to deviate from his statement.
Neither is he allowed to extend his stay unless it is approved by the Union ministry of home affairs. "Only in exceptional circumstances is a Pakistani permitted to overstay," says the officer.
Before departure, he is also questioned about his stay in the country and the places he visited.
Apart from the immigration department and the police, the intelligence bureau is also kept abreast of the movements of Pakistani visitors. The overwhelming concern that necessitates this extra vigil is the fear of militants sneaking in smoothly in the garb of official travellers.
Indeed, police sources talk of several cases of Pakistanis doing the disappearing act after landing in the country. "Some of them melt into thin air, and it is difficult to trace them," admits a police officer.
However, officers say the effort is well worth it if the two countries come closer to peace in the process.
Meanwhile, the resumption of flights has also resulted in some saving for the country in aviation turbine fuel costs.
Air India, which runs eight European and 13 Gulf flights every week, had run up an "additional expenditure" of Rs 40 crore per annum on account of a detour after Pakistan banned overflights.