Reports: Shoaib Malik and Sania Mirza's son will not be granted Pakistani citizenship

A report in the Pakistani media has suggested that Indian tennis player Sania Mirza and Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik’s son will not be granted Pakistani citizenship. This report has surfaced two days after Mirza gave birth to the couple’s first child, a boy. Sania had got married to Shoaib in April 2010.

The six-time Grand Slam champion delivered the baby in Hyderabad’s Rainbow Hospital on October 30, 2018. But since Sania is an Indian citizen, while Shoaib represents Pakistan, there have been issues regarding the baby boy’s citizenship. A report on urdu.dunyanews.tv has cited the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) sources as saying that an Indian citizen cannot be granted a citizenship as per the passport and immigration laws of Pakistan. Currently, Pakistan has dual nationality arrangements with 19 countries, but India is not one of them.

Neither Indian nor Pakistani?

Despite marrying into a Pakistani family, Sania Mirza had not given up her Indian citizenship following her wedding with Malik. In September, Shoaib had told reporters in Pakistan that his child would neither be a Pakistani national nor an Indian. “The nationality does not matter however it will neither be Indian nor Pakistani,” Malik had stated.

Soon after the child was born, the veteran Pakistan batsman took to his social media handles to share the news with his fans and well-wishers. He wrote, “Excited to announce: It’s a boy, and my girl is doing great and keeping strong as usual #Alhumdulilah. Thank you for the wishes and Duas, we are humbled #BabyMirzaMalik.” The couple have also decided to name their first child Izhaan Mirza-Malik, which in Urdu means means God’s gift. Interestingly, Sania had herself announced that the child will not just have ‘Malik’ as a surname. The couple had instead decided to stick to ‘Mirza-Malik’.

Sania Mirza had been spotted attending several events related to the baby and had also been sharing images of herself regularly on social media in an attempt to bring awareness about pregnancy and childbirth.

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