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Ease of travel is just one of the changes brought about by India’s new 77 passport offices, and with 350+ more passport offices in planning, it seems India is seeing the potential in letting people move about freely.
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Capping a mammoth countrywide exercise, foreign minister S M Krishna opened the 77th passport office in the heart of Srinagar on Thursday, and the unveiling is significant in two ways — it’s a sign that normal functioning may be possible in the troubled Valley along with a manifestation of improved ties between India and Pakistan.
The opening of a Passport Sewa Kendra (PSK) in Srinagar is significant, particularly because militants had torched a passport office here some years ago. Krishna observed, “These passport offices are also playing an important role in the implementation of the confidence-building measures between India and Pakistan by way of facilitating travel of persons on either side of the Line of Control.”