Islamabad, May 19: Pakistan and the US have reportedly agreed to resolve issues concerning a year-long interruption in visa issuance to each other’s diplomats, officials say.
The news comes after unconfirmed reports that the Pakistani Foreign Office summoned the officials of the US Embassy in Islamabad, including political secretary Brian D Hunt and Head of Visa Section Chris Richard.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani Foreign Office and the US State Department are both denying this meeting ever took place.
Pakistan’s The Nation newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying that Americans were delaying visa issuance to Pakistani staffers in order to pressure Islamabad to get as many as 300 more visas for its military and defense officials.
On Monday, US embassy spokesman Richard Senlsire admitted that Pakistan and the US have some differences over visa issuance and expressed hope that it would soon be resolved.
On the other hand, the US says the issue of Pakistani visas for its officials has not been resolved since Washington first raised the issue with the authorities in Islamabad last year.
“While there have been some improvements recently, I think that still remains an issue where we just need more visas to put the people in place to help work with Pakistan and to make progress on economic issues, security issues, and agricultural issues,” said State Department spokesman P J Crowley.
“This is an issue that we have been working with Pakistan for a number of months. It’s not something new,” he added.
——-Agencies