The Senate’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs on Friday asked the ministries of Interior and Defence to refrain from issuing visas to US citizens. The committee, which met at the Parliament House with Senator Salim Saifullah Khan in the chair, expressed concerns over the role of ministries of Interior and Defence in issuing visas to US nationals, saying the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the proper authority to do it.
The committee said the Foreign Affairs Ministry should process visa applications of the US nationals intending to visit Pakistan. It also directed the authorities concerned to scrutinise the credentials of US trainers currently present in Pakistan. Foreign Ministry officials told the committee that of the $800 million, the US had blocked $500 million due to expulsion of US trainers from Pakistan. However, negotiations for the release of the remaining $300 million under the Coalition Support Fund were underway, they said.
After the meeting, the committee chairman told reporters that the committee had directed the government to not allow any other country to operate the Shamsi Airbase. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar told the committee that the recent Mumbai blasts would not affect the schedule of Pakistan-India dialogue and they would be held according to the announced schedule. The committee directed the ministry to make dialogue with India fruitful and asked the government to complete the implementation on the parliamentary resolution on national security.
