July 9, 2003	Wednesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 8,1424

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NEW DELHI, July 8: Pakistani businessmen on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to ease visa restrictions, saying they hindered bilateral trade and people-to-people contacts between the two countries.

Pakistani businessmen, who are visiting India, called on the Mr Vajpayee at his residence here along with their Indian counterparts, discussed problems in connection with reviving the suspended travel links.

The Indian foreign ministry also sought to allay fears that New Delhi was deliberately delaying the departure of its high commissioner to Islamabad, Mr Shivshankar Menon. A foreign ministry spokesman said Mr Menon had been delayed due to “his responsibilities in Beijing.”

Pakistan’s envoy Aziz Ahmed Khan is highly likely to be invited to present his credentials to President Abdul Kalam some time this week, possibly on Thursday.

In Katahmandu, a Nepalese foreign ministry spokesman was quoted by Indian newspapers as saying: “It is most likely that the Indian and the Pakistani Foreign Secretaries would ... discuss bilateral matters on the sidelines” of the Saarc meeting.

Meanwhile, visitors, intending to go to Pakistan aboard the Lahore-New Delhi bus, which is to begin its service from July 11, faced difficulties in obtaining visas here.

Only a few people could get hold of tickets after opening up of the booking counters here, NDTV reported.

The people, who were lucky enough to get their visas processed quickly, were handed their bus tickets amid much fanfare by New Delhi Transport Minister Ajay Maken.

In their meeting with Mr Vajpayee, a joint memorandum prepared by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Federation Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry on increasing bilateral trade, was presented.

The joint memorandum contains a host of suggestions on easing trade bottlenecks between India and Pakistan, including visa, transport and communication facilities.