Pak. permits 'consular access' to Vikas Singh

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, JUNE 30. Pakistan has agreed to allow `consular access', to the officials of the Indian High Commission, to meet the cyclist, Mr. Vikas Singh, currently in jail at Peshawar.

The Pakistan Government has communicated to the Indian High Commission here that it could send its official to meet Mr. Singh on July 4.

The police here picked up Mr. Singh a few weeks ago as he crossed over to Pakistan on a bicycle with out a visa after making a futile attempt to obtain the visa at the Kabul Embassy in Pakistan. Subsequently, a judge sentenced him to three years imprisonment and hard labour.

Mr. Singh, who was on a world tour on his cycle to spread the message of peace and brotherhood, has been cycling since 1987 and is believed to have toured 67 countries.

India has been pleading with Islamabad for Mr. Singh's release. The Pakistani press, critical of the judgment against Mr. Singh, has also demanded his immediate release.

The arrest and sentencing of Mr. Singh has brought into sharp focus the rigid visa regime between India and Pakistan and the need for its relaxation. Several commentators have been impressing upon the leaders of both the countries to utilise the forthcoming summit meet at Agra to take up the issue of visa regime.

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