NEW DELHI: The government confirmed on Tuesday that British Labour Party MP Debbie Abrahams did not hold a valid visa to enter India as the one issued to her was cancelled because of her involvement in anti-India activities.Abrahams was detained at Delhi airport and deported to Dubai on Monday. Official sources asserted that issuance and rejection of visas was the sovereign right of any country and said rejection of the e-business visa was intimated to her on February 14, implying that the British lawmaker travelled to India despite knowing that her papers had been rescinded.Sources also pointed out that a business visa did not allow the MP to meet friends and family which Abrahams had said was her purpose of visting India. “This is not permitted as per rules and a separate visa request has to be made,” an official said.It marked a rare occasion when such a step was taken against an elected lawmaker of a “partner” country.Interestingly, the government’s decision to deport the British lawmaker, who has been deeply critical of the Modi government’s decision to abrogate Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, found the strong support of Congress MP Abhishek Singhvi . “The deportation of Debbie Abrahams by India was indeed necessary as she is not just an MP but a Pakistan proxy known for her clasp with the Pakistani government and the ISI. Every attempt that tries to attack India's sovereignty must be thwarted,” he tweeted.His views, however, contrasted with those of his party colleague and fellow MP Shashi Tharoor who criticised the deportation. “If things are fine in Kashmir, should not the government encourage critics to witness the situation themselves to put their fears to rest? Instead of conducting tours of pliant MEPs and polite ambassadors alone, surely the head of a parliamentary group on the subject is worth cultivating,” the Kerala MP tweeted.Abrahams is chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Kashmir and has been a trenchant critic of the Modi government’s policies on Kashmir. “Again, for clarity, I am pro-human rights and social justice. I will always speak up for people who are not afforded these rights, including Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control,” she said amid a social media row over the issue.However, the Abrahams-led parliamentary group’s constitution shows that most members are of Pakistani or PoK origin and all of them have been consistently critical of India. Not one member of the group is of Indian heritage, while its vice-president, Bradford East MP Imran Hussain, a British Pakistani, has used inflammatory language for India for years.Abrahams, who was in Pakistan on Tuesday where she spoke against Indian “abuses” in Kashmir, had said she was travelling to India on a valid e-visa which was revoked without explanation.“Mission has confirmed from Indian immigration authorities that Debbie Abrahams did not hold a valid visa,” the Indian high commission in London said in a statement on Twitter. “Further, there is no provision for visa on arrival for UK nationals. She was accordingly requested to return,” the statement said. The last was a response to Abrahams’s contention that she should have been given a visa on arrival.The UK foreign office said she was offered consular assistance and is seeking information on the circumstances of her entry being denied. “We are in contact with Indian authorities, and the minister for South Asia and the Commonwealth has spoken with the Indian high commissioner to establish why the individual concerned was denied entry to India,” a spokesperson for the foreign and commonwealth office said.Congress and other opposition parties have not commented on the deportation which triggered strong activity on social media, possibly because it involves the Centre’s action against a foreign lawmaker reportedly on the grounds of her critical comments on Kashmir. But domestically, the opposition has been questioning the Centre on Kashmir issue and its claims of normalcy there.