India denies visas to Pakistani chefs for Amritsar food festival

 

LAHORE: The Indian government on Saturday denied visas to six Pakistani chefs to participate in the World Heritage Cuisine and Food Festival scheduled to be held in Amritsar next month. 

The decision came amid rising tensions between the two countries after India canceled an earlier announced meeting between Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj.    

The festival will take place from October 12-14. Chefs from over 40 different countries will take part in the event.

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Cancelling the invitation to the Pakistani chefs, the Indian government cited political tension between the neighbours as the reason to not issue visas. 

Speaking to Geo News, head of the six-member group S.M Shafiq said the Pakistani chefs have decided to lodge a written complaint against India to the secretary general of WorldChefs — a global network of chefs associations in Paris.

The event is an initiative of the World Cultural Culinary Heritage Committee of the World Association of Chefs Societies (WorldChefs).