Seema Bano's struggle to reunite with her ailing sister In Karachi

Seema Bano, an Indian national from Kanpur, was denied passage to Pakistan despite holding a valid visa.

Transcript

00:00This is Seema Bano, an international from Kanpur who despite holding a valid Pakistan

00:05visa was not allowed to cross the closed border to visit her sister in Karachi who had been

00:09critically ill.

00:10Seema had not seen her sister in over 13 years.

00:22Her situation is not unique.

00:37Several other Indian nationals hoping to travel to Pakistan for personal and medical reasons

00:41have also been left stuck after the closure of borders.

00:44Following the deadly terror attack in Pahlkam, Jammu and Kashmir which claimed at least 28

00:49lives, India tightened its diplomatic and strategic stance against Pakistan.

00:54Several Pakistani nationals were also seen making hurried exits from the country.

00:58On April 23, 2025, in response to the Pahlkam attack, the Ministry of External Affairs announced

01:04a series of sweeping measures aimed at diplomatically isolating Pakistan.

01:09These included the immediate closure of the Atari-Waga border, the suspension of the Sark

01:13visa exemption scheme, the revocation of all existing visas under the scheme and a 48

01:19hour deadline for all Pakistani citizens to leave India.

01:22Authorities also directed all Pakistani nationals with valid travel documents who had entered

01:27India recently to return by May 1, 2025.