ISLAMABAD- US State Department has written a letter to the Pakistan Embassyin Washington complaining issuance of short duration visas to its officialsand businessmen and threatening to reciprocate the measure for Pakistaniofficials and citizens.

The State Department maintained that Pakistanis are usually issuedfive-year visas by the US Embassy in Islamabad but the US officials andeven businessmen are getting single-entry visas of three-month durationonly from Pakistan Embassy in Washington, the News has reported.

Recently, the United States has also started issuing shorter duration visasto the Pakistani officials. Even the Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal andForeign Secretary Tehmina Janjua were issued one-month visas by the USEmbassy, sources confirmed. A top Pakistan official who had served with theWorld Bank has been waiting for the last many weeks to get US visa but sofar there is no response from the US Embassy.

According to the State Department letter, the US has issued about 40,000non-immigrant visas to Pakistanis during the last five years. According tothe Pakistan Embassy sources, Islamabad has issued visas to 60,000 UScitizens during last five years. However, more than 60 percent of those whoobtained Pakistani visas are US citizens of Pakistani origin who come hometo visit their families.

The sources said Pakistan tightened visa control for the US officials andbusinessmen after the incident of Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor who wasarrested in Pakistan for killing two Pakistanis in Lahore. During the lastPPP government, it was alleged that over 8,000 such visas were issued tothe American citizens by the Pakistan Embassy in Washington with lessscrutiny, which allegedly allowed the US to set up a network of spiesinside Pakistan.

However, the than Pakistan ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani hasrepeatedly denied any wrongdoing claiming that all visas were issuedthrough proper procedure with the approval of the then prime minister YusufRaza Gilani.

When contacted, the Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States AizazChaudhry confirmed that the visa issue has been taken up with the embassyby the State Department. However, he said Pakistan is not restricting visasto the US officials and legitimate businessmen.

To a question as to why the US businessmen are not granted longer durationvisas by a country that desperately needs foreign investment and trade, theambassador said the visas are issued to those who have verification fromthe US-Pakistan Business Council, or US or Pakistani Chambers of Commerce.“Anyone with proper documents is issued visa by the Pakistan Embassy,” theambassador said.