KARACHI, March 14: The People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy has demanded early opening of Karachi and Mumbai consulates and setting up of camp offices in smaller towns of Pakistan and India for the issuance of visas.

“This will be a major step towards normalization of neighbourly relations and facilitating people-to-people contact,” Anis Haroon, Secretary General of the Forum said on Tuesday.

She was commenting on press reports that the Interior Minister had directed authorities to facilitate visa for businessmen coming to Pakistan.

Surprisingly, she said, India was not included in the list of countries to be facilitated. “The forum regrets that despite government’s claim to improve relations with India why the issuance of visa is being denied to businessmen on arrival from India. We can’t deny the importance of establishing trade and economic relations with India, which is long overdue,” she said.

The Forum demands that visa-regime should be relaxed for Indian businessmen, youth, writers, artists as well as for the common people. —PPI