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Pakistani man travels to India on IndiGo flight, surprises Mumbai airport officials
Waqas Hassan, a Pakistani entrepreneur, shared his experience of flying with an Indian airline and experiencing a layover in Mumbai.
A Pakistani entrepreneur has revealed that he travelled to India on an IndiGo flight, surprising thousands of people. While technically, Pakistani passport holders can travel to India after obtaining a visa, the visa application process for Pakistani citizens is more stringent due to historical tensions and security concerns between India and Pakistan. Leisure tourism between the two countries is rare.
What Waqas Hassan did, however, was perfectly legal - even though he did not obtain an Indian visa. The Pakistani entrepreneur booked an IndiGo flight with a six-hour layover in Mumbai while travelling from Singapore to Saudi Arabia.
Travelling to India on a Pakistani passport
In an Instagram video, Hassan explained that people with a Pakistani passport can fly to India as long as it’s a connecting flight. Pakistani citizens are not allowed to exit the airport during the layover - which means that self check-in flights are not allowed for Pakistanis.
“This time I’m flying from Singapore to Saudi Arabia. And currently I’m in Mumbai,” Hassan said while walking through Mumbai airport in his Instagram video.
Hassan, the founder of AiForAll, evidently enjoyed his short stay at Mumbai airport. He spent time at an airport lounge, bought a few souvenirs and even tried the most popular snack of Mumbai - vada pav. “It’s a pretty fun feeling,” he said.
“Slight risk involved”
Hassan also explained why he chose to fly on an Indian airline with a layover in Mumbai. He said that Indian airlines generally offer good deals on flights going from east to west - like Singapore to Saudi Arabia, in his case.
He acknowledged that not many people know this is legal, and he himself was wary of risks when booking his ticket.
“I have been travelling for 15 years. Nobody told me that we [Pakistanis] can transit through India. So when I booked this ticket, there was a slight bit of risk involved as well,” said the Singapore-based Pakistani entrepreneur.
Hassan revealed that even the officials at Mumbai airport were surprised when they saw his Pakistani passport.
“When I gave them my passport at the airport, they also looked at me in surprise. They said not many Pakistani people do this, so it was a new experience for them as well,” he said on Instagram.
His video is going steadily viral on social media, drawing mixed reactions.
“Pakistani awaam should be allowed to visit India and vice versa. I love you guys and no one is good or bad we all are shades of grey. I respect your culture and country and I will request our government to make easy access for citizens of both the countries to visit each other,” wrote one Instagram user.
“What’s the happiness in staying at a airport of a country which would never allow you to step out,” another person asked.
