Pakistan, U.S. agree to settle visa row
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Pakistan and the United States have agreed to resolve the issue of delay in issuance of visas for diplomats, officials said Tuesday.
U.S. embassy spokesman Richard Senlsire admitted Monday that Pakistan and the U.S. have some differences over issuance of visas and expressed the hope that it would soon be resolved.
The Pakistani Foreign Office has asked the U.S embassy in Pakistan to provide details of their diplomats as the embassy already has visas more than their sanctioned limit.
The U.S. embassy said it has applied for more visas for some defense officials from the U.S who were supposed to come to Pakistan. But Pakistani Foreign Office said their preliminary details, regarding the nature of their jobs in Pakistan, have not been submitted yet by the U.S embassy officials.
A Foreign Office official told Xinhua that the U.S. embassy in Islamabad can apply for maximum 420 to 450 visas but surprisingly it has applied for more than 850 visas for auditors, accountants, routine diplomats, defense officials and cultural officers whereas they have got almost 700 visas out of more than 850.
There were about 150 applicants who still need to provide details to the Pakistani office to get visas, he said.
According to the U.S embassy, the U.S. diplomats awaiting the visas come from accounts department, foreign office and the United Nations.
The U.S embassy also tried to pressurize the Foreign Office through other Pakistani officials, said the official asking not to be named.
As a result, he said, the U.S embassy delayed the visas of the Pakistani diplomats who were supposed to join the Pakistani embassy in the United States in near future.
There are 35 to 40 visa applicants of Pakistani diplomats and their family members. Their visa applications have been pending for the last six months though visas to diplomats are usually issued within two weeks, he said.
Sources privy to diplomatic circles said officials of both sides met last week at Pakistan's Foreign Office to discuss the visa row. On Monday, the Foreign Office summoned the U.S. embassy officials to protest over the delay in issuance of the visas.
The Foreign Office summoned U.S. embassy's political secretary Brian D Hunt and discussed this matter with him. According to sources, Hunt listened to the concerns but he did not give any time frame for the visa issue.
However, according to Foreign Office and U.S. embassy sources, both sides have decided that no delay will be made in issuance of visas in future.
