April 23, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 16, 1429

ISLAMABAD, April 22: Offi-cials of Pakistan and India discussed here on Tuesday the issue of detention of over a dozen Pakistanis by Indian security forces on the charge of travelling on forged visa.

“The meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere. The Pakistani side wanted to confirm whether the accused were really travelling on forged documents,” Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq told Dawn.

Mr Sadiq said that if the charge levelled against the detainees proved to be correct, serious efforts would be required to bust the network involved in sending people to India and other countries on forged documents.

The spokesman said the government was in touch with the Indian High Commission and the New Delhi government on the issue. About the release of the arrested people, the spokesman said: “We will follow the procedure but first it has to be established whether they were travelling on forged documents.”

Both Mr Sadiq and Indian High Commission spokesman Sanjay Mathur were reluctant to say how many people had been arrested.

According to media reports, 16 people travelling from Khokhrapar to Munabao by train were arrested.

However, Mr Mathur claimed that Islamabad had not contacted New Delhi on the issue so far. “But we are investigating the case and trying to identify the network of travel agents who send innocent people to India on forged visas. When we get any information about them it will be conveyed to the Pakistan government.”