India hopes to boost ties with Saudi Arabia after e-visas restored

India hopes to boost ties with Saudi Arabia after e-visas restored
Visitors arrive at in the Saudi Tourism Authority booth at the South Asia Tourism and Travel Exchange in Noida, India on Feb. 10, 2023. (AN Photo)
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Updated 14 March 2023

India hopes to boost ties with Saudi Arabia after e-visas restored

India hopes to boost ties with Saudi Arabia after e-visas restored
  • Both countries have been making efforts to increase bilateral exchanges
  • India has also emerged as a key tourism source market for the Kingdom

NEW DELHI: India is hoping to boost people-to-people interactions with Saudi Arabia, the country’s ambassador in Riyadh said on Tuesday, as the country resumed electronic visa services for visitors from the Kingdom.

The e-visa facility for Saudi nationals was restored last week, after being suspended for all countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It will boost people-to-people interactions, travel for businesses, tourism,” Dr. Suhel Ajaz Khan, India’s ambassador in Riyadh, told Arab News.

“It’s a positive step in line with our overall friendly relations and strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia.”

The e-visa service for Saudi nationals was only launched in 2019 before the pandemic.

India’s latest move to ease the immigration process for Saudi travelers, which covers visas for tourism, business, medical and conferences, was welcomed by tourism players in the country.

“India and Saudi Arabia are deepening their bonds, and I feel the easier it becomes to reach each other’s countries, the better it would be to boost tourism and business,” Abhishek Sharma, who runs a travel agency in the city of Agra where the Taj Mahal monument is located, told Arab News.

“India is also known for medical tourism and the restoration of e-medical (visa) facilities can help in the growth of the tourism industry,” said Sharma.

Jyoti Mayal, president of the Travel Agents Association of India, said the decision “will mean a huge success for inbound tourists.

“The ease of getting a visa will ensure more tourists in the most important categories of tourism including leisure, medical, business and conferences,” Mayal told Arab News.

“This decision will not only increase business for the Indian tourism industry but will also help Indians to travel to Saudi,” she said. “Business needs to increase from both sides and that’s the best environment to grow in tourism. Saudi has been trying to woo tourists for some time now and this is the best way to have tourists as ambassadors of each other’s country.”

Saudi officials have also been promoting the Kingdom as a leading destination for Indian visitors, as the South Asian country has emerged as Saudi Arabia’s key tourism source market and is expected to become the largest one by 2030.

The Saudi Tourism Authority conducted a roadshow and participated in a series of travel and trade events across India in February, and said it was opening up dedicated visa centers in India to improve accessibility for Indian travelers to enter the Kingdom.


Afghan pilot to remain in UK after PM’s intervention: report

Afghan pilot to remain in UK after PM’s intervention: report
Updated 11 sec ago

Afghan pilot to remain in UK after PM’s intervention: report

Afghan pilot to remain in UK after PM’s intervention: report
  • Pilot who served alongside British forces was threatened with deportation to Rwanda
  • Unnamed pilot reached Britain in a small boat

LONDON: The UK Home Office is set to grant an Afghan pilot leave to remain in Britain after an intervention by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, The Times reported on Friday.

The unnamed pilot, who served as a lieutenant in the Afghan Air Force, reached Britain in a small boat across the English Channel as he said there were no safer legal routes into the country.

Despite flying more than 30 missions against the Taliban alongside coalition forces, he was threatened with deportation to Rwanda before his case became public after an investigation by The Independent, as he had traveled to the UK via a number of safe countries, including Italy, Switzerland and France.

The case was put to Sunak during questions at the House of Commons Liaison Committee earlier this week, at which he said “these are exactly the sort of people we want to help,” adding that he would ask the Home Office to look again at the pilot’s application.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has now said the former lieutenant will receive the right to permanently remain in the UK when he applies through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, but warned other Afghans not to travel illegally to the UK via the same route.

“The ARAP scheme is agnostic about where you’re applying from. The ARAP scheme has been used to bring people out of refugee camps in Greece. I would encourage people to apply for the ARAP scheme if they fit the requirements that we have set out,” Wallace said.

The decision comes after several senior political and military figures criticized the initial threat to deport the pilot.

Tobias Ellwood, chair of the House of Commons Defence Committee, and Lord West of Spithead, former head of the Royal Navy, both said the UK has a “duty” to people who had served alongside British forces in Afghanistan.

Lord West told The Independent: “The Afghans who helped us, whether they be interpreters or whether they were fighting alongside us, we have a duty to look after them — not least because they were helping us, but also because no one is ever going to want to help us if we ever get involved in a situation like that again.”

He added: “I understand all the issues about trying to stop boats coming across the Channel and people drowning. But I think occasionally one has to show some flexibility. And I would have thought this was a classic case where we should.”

A Home Office spokesman told The Times: “We remain committed to providing protection for vulnerable and at-risk people fleeing Afghanistan and so far have brought around 24,500 people impacted by the situation back to the UK.

“We continue to work with like-minded partners and countries neighbouring Afghanistan on resettlement issues, and to support safe passage for eligible Afghans.”


Afghan pilot to remain in UK after PM’s intervention: report

Afghan pilot to remain in UK after PM’s intervention: report
Updated 11 sec ago

Afghan pilot to remain in UK after PM’s intervention: report

Afghan pilot to remain in UK after PM’s intervention: report
  • Pilot who served alongside British forces was threatened with deportation to Rwanda
  • Unnamed pilot reached Britain in a small boat

LONDON: The UK Home Office is set to grant an Afghan pilot leave to remain in Britain after an intervention by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, The Times reported on Friday.

The unnamed pilot, who served as a lieutenant in the Afghan Air Force, reached Britain in a small boat across the English Channel as he said there were no safer legal routes into the country.

Despite flying more than 30 missions against the Taliban alongside coalition forces, he was threatened with deportation to Rwanda before his case became public after an investigation by The Independent, as he had traveled to the UK via a number of safe countries, including Italy, Switzerland and France.

The case was put to Sunak during questions at the House of Commons Liaison Committee earlier this week, at which he said “these are exactly the sort of people we want to help,” adding that he would ask the Home Office to look again at the pilot’s application.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has now said the former lieutenant will receive the right to permanently remain in the UK when he applies through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, but warned other Afghans not to travel illegally to the UK via the same route.

“The ARAP scheme is agnostic about where you’re applying from. The ARAP scheme has been used to bring people out of refugee camps in Greece. I would encourage people to apply for the ARAP scheme if they fit the requirements that we have set out,” Wallace said.

The decision comes after several senior political and military figures criticized the initial threat to deport the pilot.

Tobias Ellwood, chair of the House of Commons Defence Committee, and Lord West of Spithead, former head of the Royal Navy, both said the UK has a “duty” to people who had served alongside British forces in Afghanistan.

Lord West told The Independent: “The Afghans who helped us, whether they be interpreters or whether they were fighting alongside us, we have a duty to look after them — not least because they were helping us, but also because no one is ever going to want to help us if we ever get involved in a situation like that again.”

He added: “I understand all the issues about trying to stop boats coming across the Channel and people drowning. But I think occasionally one has to show some flexibility. And I would have thought this was a classic case where we should.”

A Home Office spokesman told The Times: “We remain committed to providing protection for vulnerable and at-risk people fleeing Afghanistan and so far have brought around 24,500 people impacted by the situation back to the UK.

“We continue to work with like-minded partners and countries neighbouring Afghanistan on resettlement issues, and to support safe passage for eligible Afghans.”


NATO chief says Finland to become member ‘in coming days’

NATO chief says Finland to become member ‘in coming days’
Updated 29 min 11 sec ago

NATO chief says Finland to become member ‘in coming days’

NATO chief says Finland to become member ‘in coming days’
  • NATO chief says he looks forward to also welcoming Sweden as full member soon

BRUSEELS: NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Friday that Finland would formally become a member within days, as he congratulated its president on clearing the final obstacle to joining.
“I look forward to raising Finland’s flag at NATO HQ in the coming days. Together we are stronger and safer,” Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter.
After months of delays, Turkiye’s parliament on Thursday removed the last hurdle for Finland by becoming the last member of the US-led military alliance to ratify its application.
Stoltenberg said in separate statement that “Finland has highly capable forces, advanced capabilities, and strong democratic institutions.”
“So Finland will bring a lot to our alliance,” he said.
NATO foreign ministers are meeting at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels next week, when it is expected the membership could be formalized.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year upended European security and pushed Finland and its neighbor Sweden to drop decades of non-alignment and seek to join NATO’s protective umbrella.
Stockholm application remains stuck, however, because of ongoing resistance from both Turkiye and Hungary.
But Stoltenberg insisted that “all allies agree that a rapid conclusion of the ratification process for Sweden will be in everyone’s interest,“
“I look forward to also welcoming Sweden as a full member of the NATO family as soon as possible,” he said.


Lawyer: Steenkamp’s parents to oppose parole for Oscar Pistorius

Lawyer: Steenkamp’s parents to oppose parole for Oscar Pistorius
Updated 31 March 2023

Lawyer: Steenkamp’s parents to oppose parole for Oscar Pistorius

Lawyer: Steenkamp’s parents to oppose parole for Oscar Pistorius
  • Former Olympic runner was convicted of murder for the Valentine’s Day 2013 shooting of Reeva Steenkamp
  • A decision on Pistorius’ parole could come on Friday but is more likely to take days to finalize

PRETORIA: The parents of Reeva Steenkamp, the woman Oscar Pistorius shot dead 10 years ago, will oppose the former Olympic runner’s application for parole, their lawyer said Friday.
Lawyer Tania Koen said ahead of a scheduled parole hearing for Pistorius that “unless he comes clean, they don’t feel that he is rehabilitated.”
Pistorius, a multiple Paralympic champion who made history by running against able-bodied athletes at the 2012 Olympics, was convicted of murder for the Valentine’s Day 2013 shooting of Reeva Steenkamp at his home.
Pistorius claims he shot Steenkamp by mistake thinking she was an intruder in his home.
He was sentenced to 13 years and five months in prison and is eligible for parole under South African law after having served half his sentence.
Koen said Steenkamp’s mother, June Steenkamp, would submit written and oral statements at Friday’s hearing opposing Pistorius’ application to be released from prison.
“She doesn’t feel that he must be released,” Koen told reporters outside the Atteridgeville Correctional Center in Pretoria, where Pistorius has been held since 2016 and where his parole hearing is expected to take place.
Submissions from a victim’s relative are just one of the factors a parole board takes into account when deciding if an offender can be released early on parole. The parole board will also consider Pistorius’ behavior in prison and if he would be a threat to society if he were released.
A decision on Pistorius’ parole could come on Friday but is more likely to take days to finalize.


Hijacked Danish ship located in Gulf of Guinea, ‘part of crew’ kidnapped

Hijacked Danish ship located in Gulf of Guinea, ‘part of crew’ kidnapped
Updated 31 March 2023

Hijacked Danish ship located in Gulf of Guinea, ‘part of crew’ kidnapped

Hijacked Danish ship located in Gulf of Guinea, ‘part of crew’ kidnapped
  • No details were provided on the number of crew kidnapped, nor their nationalities
  • The owner said there was no reported damage to the vessel or cargo

COPENHAGEN: The Danish oil tanker seized by pirates has been located in the Gulf of Guinea but a part of its crew has been kidnapped, the ship’s owner Monjasa said Friday.
The Monjasa Reformer, which had 16 crew on board when it was boarded by pirates on March 25, was found on Thursday by the French navy off the coast of Sao Tome and Principe.
When the vessel was located, “the pirates had abandoned the vessel and brought a part of the crew members with them,” Monjasa said in a statement.
“The rescued crew members are all in good health and safely located in a secure environment and receiving proper attention following these dreadful events,” it said.
No details were provided on the number of crew kidnapped, nor their nationalities.
“Our thoughts are with the crew members still missing and their families during this stressful period,” Monjasa said, adding that it was “working closely with the local authorities” to obtain the sailors’ safe return.
The owner said there was no reported damage to the vessel or cargo.
The 135-meter-long Monjasa Reformer “experienced an emergency situation” on March 25 around 260 kilometers west of Port Pointe-Noire in the Republic of Congo, Monjasa said.
The shipowner added that the crew had sought refuge in the tanker’s secure room or “citadel” when the pirates boarded, “in accordance with the onboard anti-piracy emergency protocol.”
The vessel was “sitting idle” at the time of the incident.