NEW DELHI, Dec 29: India will grant even more restrictive visas to Pakistanis henceforth, cutting down the cities they may visit to three from the existing 12, a measure which the government described on Sunday as part of its crackdown on terrorism.

Junior Home Minister Vidyasagar Rao was quoted by Indian news agencies as saying that his ministry had already initiated the proposal for stricter controls on Pakistani visitors. Mr Rao was quoted by Star News as saying that Indian state administrations had been empowered by the federal government to identify, nab and deport those Pakistani nationals who were staying in the country beyond the time permitted in their visas or had gone missing.

However, he said the government might also grant citizenship, on humanitarian grounds, to those aged persons who had their kin in India or those women who were married to Indian nationals. Mr Rao said that of the 11,208 cases of Pakistani nationals who had entered India legally but were overstaying or had gone underground, as many as 2,324 persons had gone missing without trace.

“You need only one Osama bin Laden to cause a disaster,” he said.

Mr Rao said the steps were being taken in a bid to prevent Pakistani nationals from taking part in anti-India activities. “The government is also considering proposals to take undertakings from local sponsors who invite them,” he added.

Similarly, there are cases of aged persons who had crossed over from Pakistan during 1965 and 1971 wars and remained in the country since then, especially in Rajasthan and Gujarat, for whom grant of citizenship was being considered, he said.

There are 4,978 such persons, mostly Hindus, in Rajasthan, he added.

Asserting that several meetings were held in the home ministry to review the situation, Mr Rao said strict steps were contemplated as it was found on random verification that 90 per cent of addresses given by Pakistani nationals for visa purposes in India were found to be false.

Following the Simla Agreement, India and Pakistan had signed an accord on issuance of passports, which entitled nationals of both countries to visit a maximum of three places.

The accord also restricted the issuance of visas only for meeting relatives or for diplomatic purposes.

But New Delhi had unilaterally increased the number of places, which could be visited to 12 and also started issuing tourist visas, Mr Rao said.

The proposal now was to restrict the places that could be visited by a Pakistani to three as before, he said, adding that stoppage of granting extension on tourist visas was also being considered.

He said “all unilateral concessions” granted by India were being reviewed and steps being taken to restrict many of them.

Mr Rao said the practice of “100 per cent pre-verification” of those Pakistanis seeking Indian visas would be continued.

Asked whether any amendment in the Foreigners Act, 1946, or the Indian Passports Act, 1920, was required, Mr Rao said only government orders would suffice in this regard.

Besides these measures, the ministry will install computer software at points of entry and exit in different parts of the country so that information about foreigners entering or going out of the country was available.

India alleges that Pakistan has become the hub of Al Qaeda, and officials have declared the sighting of even the more far- removed groups such as Hamas, of all the places, in the vicinity of Ayodhya.

Newspapers last week cited Israeli warnings about the possibility of a terror attack in Goa during New Year celebrations.