New Delhi: Noted Pakistani Actress and Singer, Salma Agha, who had rendered beautiful songs in B.R. Chopra’s Muslim family film, “Nikah” was welcomed in New Delhi at a seminar on “Indo-Pak Relations”. Earlier, she had requested for an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card. An official of the Ministry of Home Affairs assured that her case would be considered favorably. She also met Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh yesterday and requested him to grant OCI. This will facilitate her to visit India umpteen numbers of times without getting visa from India. It will also give an exemption for her registration into Police Dept. in India.
Agha said she receives a lot of love and adulation from India, adding that she could have become Indian citizen anytime as her fore-fathers hail from Punjab’s Amritsar city.
“There is nothing new in this (visa being given). Modi ji’s government has helped me so much. We are grateful. I could have taken citizenship anytime. I belong to India. I am an Indian. My forefathers are from Amritsar,” she said after the meeting.
She also lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his initiatives for the empowerment of women and cited the government’s ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ mission.
Agha, the granddaughter of legendary actor Jugal Kishore Mehra and actress Anwari Begum, is currently a UK citizen.
The lifetime Indian visa for Agha comes months after Pakistani-origin singer and her former husband Adnan Sami was granted an Indian visa.
–Siasat News