India plans to issue an unprecedented 10,000 visas to Pakistani cricket fans to watch a rare series between the arch rivals starting next month, a foreign ministry official said on Saturday.
It will be the first time in the bitter history of the neighbours that so many visitors are expected to make a trip across the border for an event, indicating that a slow peace process has helped boost ties between people of the two countries.
The Indian decision comes days after the two countries gave fresh impetus to their peace moves by agreeing to start the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service from April 7. The two countries also agreed to resume the rail service between Munabao (Rajasthan) and Kokharapar (Sindh) from October this year and launch a bus service between Amritsar and Lahore.
"We are expecting a huge demand for visas and plan to have special visa camps in Pakistan to issue up to 10,000 visas," the Indian official said.
"We might even allow Pakistanis to obtain special permits and drive in their cars into India to watch the match in Mohali," he said referring to the northern Indian city which is a three-hour drive from Wagah, the only India-Pakistan border crossing located in the Punjab region.
New Delhi's decision reciprocates a similar landmark move by Islamabad last year which allowed about 8,000 Indians to travel to Pakistan to watch the first cricket series between the two countries on Pakistani soil in 14 years.
A Pakistani team last played a series in India in 1999.
Last year, India won the Tests 2-1 and the one-dayers 3-2 in a series that generated huge goodwill among people of the two cricket-crazy countries who have a common history and share many cultural similarities but have fought three wars.
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