Youth awaits bride from Pak amid tensions, Sushma Swaraj agrees to help

Jodhpur, Oct 7: After his cross-border wedding ran into the headwinds of rising tensions between India and Pakistan, a youth here has approached External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, who on Friday assured him of help.

Jodhpur resident Naresh Tewani and Karachi-based Priya Bachchani, who are planning to tie the knot exactly a month from now, were facing anxious moments as the Indian embassy in Pakistan had not granted visas to the bride's family and relatives.

According to the groom, despite having applied for visas in the prescribed time and format, no one from the bride's side has been issued the documents so far. Seeing no headway in the process, Tewani had reached out to External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Twitter for help.

Swaraj on Friday responded to his plea saying that the visas would be issued to them. "Pl do not worry. We will issue the Visa(sic)," she said on Twitter.

आप चिंता न करें. हम वीज़ा दिलवा देंगे. Pl do not worry. We will issue the Visa. pic.twitter.com/yubcZXcQKG https://t.co/8jUPo6VUvi

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) October 7, 2016

Tewani said, "The applications for visas for the family of the bride were filed well in time about 3 months back. We assumed that the documents would be issued in time."

The groom's family had said wedding preparations had come to a standstill as all their efforts were being directed towards ensuring that the bride's family gets the documents.

"The minister has been quite responsive to tweets by people in trouble and they have received aid from her. Seeing her willingness to resolve the troubles of those in need, we knocked on her twitter account," Tewani said.

"It was my long-cherished dream to have a Pakistani bride for my son since my visit to Pakistan in 2001, considering the resemblance in culture and traditions between the two countries. But given the circumstances, I was afraid that the realisation of this dream might take longer," the groom's father Kanhaiya Lal said.

PTI