Pakistani infant's heart beats for Sushma Swaraj

He got a new lease of life after being granted medical visa

India's foreign minister Sushma Swaraj will certainly go down in history as one of the warm-hearted chiefs to grace the ministry of external affairs, India.
The number of Indians in distress abroad - be it financial or visa problem - returning home safe and sound, thanks to her, is unprecedented. In that respect at least, the Indian embassies abroad are more active. Very often all it takes is a tweet to the minister, stating the problem. Swaraj's response would be prompt.
This time around, Swaraj has gone out of her way to help a four-month-old Pakistan boy, Rohaan, reports the Indian Express. Rohaan suffered from an acute heart problem. In layman's language, he had a hole in his aorta.
Abu Dhabi girl tweets for help, Sushma Swaraj to her rescue
When the boy's father Kamal Siddiqui wrote to Swaraj, about the problems of the child and the difficulty in getting a medical visa, Swaraj promised him help.
The visa was issued immediately. And arrangements were made for the child to be admitted to Jaypee Hospital, Noida. The surgery took around five hours. Once the procedure was over, the baby was put on the ventilator and a tracheostomy was done.
Rohaan was admitted on July 12 and was operated on July 14 by a team of doctors. According to the doctors, "Rohaan's condition was serious because of multiple problems. To top it all, the pulmonary arteries were coming from the left side which is the wrong side. As a result, the oxygen count in his blood was low."
All in all, a complicated case, especially because the boy was so young.
On successful completion of the operation, Kamal Siddiqui said: "The heart of my child beats today for Madam Sushma Swaraj."
His only request was that the Indian government be more liberal in issuing medical visa to those in need in Pakistan. And there could be thousands in need of Indian medical help.
It certainly looks like patients in need of urgent medical attention is one way of bringing India and Pakistan together, when everything else seems to add to the problems.

• India