Shoania meet Indian HC, Shoaib’s visa extended for one year

Shoania meet Indian HC, Shoaib’s visa extended for one year

Updated at: 1410 PST, Friday, April 23, 2010 ISLAMABAD: Newly-wed star couple Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik today met Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal, following which the Pakistani cricketer was granted one year visa extension. Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik and his wife Indian tennis star Sania Mirza arrived here last night along with her mother Nasim Mirza. They were taken amid tight security from hotel to the Indian High commission where they met with the High Commissioner. This meeting was arranged on the request from Sania. During the brief meeting, the couple requested the High Commissioner to extend the visa of Shoaib which was valid till June 24, officials said. Shoaib's visa was later granted an extension of one year and includes cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Sania's mother Naseema Mirza accompanied the couple to the Indian mission. Sania had sought the meeting yesterday. During the meeting Sabharwal wished them well and hoped they would have a "long and happy married life", Indian High Commission spokesman Siddharth Zutshi said. The Indian envoy, however, has not hosted any reception for the couple, the officials said. The high-profile couple arrived in Pakistan yesterday to a frenzied reception, with the federal government according them the status of "state guests". After flying into Karachi from Mumbai yesterday afternoon after their wedding on April 12, the couple arrived in the federal capital last evening. The couple and their entourage were received by senior police and civil officials at Benazir Bhutto airport in Rawalpindi and driven to Serena Hotel in Islamabad. While airing reports on the couple, Geo News channel ran a ticker that read, "Welcome Sania-Shoaib". The security arrangements put in place for the couple's drive from the airport in Rawalpindi to Islamabad were akin to those made for VVIPs like the Prime Minister and President, and outsiders were barred from the Serena by the hotel's management.