ISLAMABAD, March 4: The US government is expected to ease visa restrictions for Pakistani citizens shortly and provide a more secure environment to Pakistanis living in the United States, diplomatic sources said on Thursday.
The sources told Dawn that US Ambassador to Pakistan Ms Nancy Powell had prepared a three-point agenda to be discussed and adopted at a high-level meeting being held in Singapore next week.
US Secretary for Homeland Security Tom Ridge will preside over a meeting of American ambassadors in South Asia and Southeast Asia in the island state to discuss the security situation, with special reference to protecting the interests of American citizens in the world.
The sources said Ms Powell's three-point brief relates to easing visa restrictions, offering better living conditions for Pakistanis in the US and save Pakistani citizens from alleged humiliation, harassment and unnecessary rough and tough questioning at American airports.
Generally, the sources said, the Bush administration was very much concerned about its negative perception in the Islamic world, including Pakistan, and wanted to largely improve it during the next eight months.
There is a growing thinking in official and unofficial quarters in the United States that the Bush administration should make concerted efforts to win over public opinion in the Islamic world and that countries like Pakistan, which provided maximum support in war against terror, should be treated fairly well.
"While visa-related issues and making Pakistanis' life more comfortable in the US is on the cards, this is also being ensured that genuine Pakistani students seeking to study in America don't face hardship," one source said.
He refuted the belief that the number of student visas had drastically gone down since 9/11. He pointed out that during the last many months, things had greatly improved and that this was being ensured that the number of student visas considerably increased every year.
The sources said there was an emerging perception in different American think-tanks that issues like Palestine and Kashmir should be sorted out as they were directly and indirectly causing problems for America.
