(MENAFN- Gulf Times) A serious row has erupted between Pakistan and the United States over visa restrictions for the US officials and citizens, putting the strained ties between the two countries under further stress, it was learnt yesterday.
According to US government sources, the State Department has written a letter to the Pakistan embassy in Washington complaining of the issuance of short duration visas to its officials and businessmen, and threatening to reciprocate the measure for Pakistani officials and citizens.
The State Department maintained that Pakistanis are usually issued five-year visas by the US embassy in Islamabad but the US officials and even businessmen are getting three-month, single-entry visas from Pakistan embassy in Washington.
Recently, the United States has also started issuing shorter duration visas to the Pakistani officials.
Even the Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal and Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua were issued one-month visas by the US embassy, sources confirmed.
A top Pakistan official who had served with the World Bank has been waiting for the last many weeks to get US visa but so far there has been no response from the US embassy.
According to the State Department letter, the US has issued about 40,000 non-immigrant visas to Pakistanis in the past five years.
According to the Pakistan embassy sources, Islamabad has issued visas to 60,000 US citizens in the same period.
However, more than 60% of those who obtained Pakistani visas are US citizens of Pakistani origin who come home to visit their families.
The sources said that Pakistan tightened visa control for the US officials and businessmen after the case of Raymond Davis, a US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) contractor who was arrested in Pakistan for killing two Pakistanis in Lahore.
During the last Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government, it was alleged that more than 8,000 such visas were issued to the American citizens by the Pakistan embassy in Washington with less scrutiny, which allegedly allowed the US to set up a network of spies inside Pakistan.
However, the then-Pakistan ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, claiming that all visas were issued through proper procedure with the approval of then-prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani.
When contacted, Pakistan's ambassador to the United States Aizaz Chaudhry confirmed that the visa issue has been taken up with the embassy by the State Department.
However, he said that Pakistan is not restricting visas to the US officials and legitimate businessmen.
To a question as to why the US businessmen are not granted longer duration visas by a country that desperately needs foreign investment and trade, the ambassador said the visas are issued to those who have verification from the US-Pakistan Business Council, or the US or Pakistan Chambers of Commerce.
'Anyone with proper documents is issued visa by the Pakistan embassy, the ambassador said.
He said that Pakistan issued 11,000 visas to Americans last year.
The ambassador said that the Pakistan embassy in Washington is way smaller than the US embassy in Islamabad, and that hundreds of US embassy officials and contractors are granted visas every year.
'Some US officials are posted in Pakistan for a few months so they get visa for only that duration, he said.
He said that five-year family visas are issued to people of the Pakistani origin.
However, he said that shorter duration visas are issued to those who plan short visits to Pakistan, for example, some professors who attend some conferences and do not require visas of longer duration.
Last Friday the ambassador held a meeting with top aides to discuss the visa row with the United States.
He has directed his staff to compile the statistics of Pakistani visas granted to the US citizens.
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