After a wait for more than three decades, the sister of an army officer, who had been declared "missing" by the Indian Army during the 1971 Indo-Pak war, has found a ray of hope to have a glimpse of her brother.
A call from Pakistan through the Indian Defence Ministry recently to visit Pakistan to identify Major S C Guleri has rekindled hope in his sister Neena Sharma to see her brother.
The major's father, mother, wife Snehlata and a brother have died and Neena, who is married at Nurpur in Kangra district, is the nearest kin surviving.
"On March 7, we received a letter in the name of Snehlata asking her to visit Pakistan to identify her husband," his brother-in-law (Neena's husband) S K Sharma told PTI.
"We have informed the authorities about the death of Snehlata and requested for visa for Neena and me instead," Sharma said adding "we have submitted all relevant documents about the major."
Sharma said Major Guleri, who hails from Dharamsala, was married on October 22, 1971, and just four days later got a call from his regiment for war duty as Pakistan had attacked India.
He was declared missing during the war in 1971 from Chhamb sector in Jammu and Kashmir.
All efforts by his family to locate him were in vain until a recent communication asking the family to visit Pakistan and identify him.