ISLAMABAD: The government of Pakistan is seriously considering various measures to stop smuggling and entry of illegal immigrants into Pakistan from India.
This was stated by a Foreign Office spokesman.
He was asked if the government has finally decided to seal off its borders with India. He said according to different reports, around 600,000 illegal Indian immigrants are presently living in Karachi, adding that it is however difficult to be definitive in making assessment in this regard.
Asked if both the countries are not heading towards the closure of their respective consulates in Bombay and Karachi, he said no decision has yet been taken in this regard. Asked as to what is the reason behind the illegal immigration to Pakistan from India, the spokesman said “We feel that there are greater economic opportunities here as compared to India.”
He said the Indian government on January 10,1993, had informed the government of Pakistan of its decision not to accede to our request to rent the Jinnah House in Bombay which was built by QuaidiAzam and served as his residence for several years before independence.
He said:” “We hope that the Indian government will review and rescind this decision with a view to fulfilling a long standing solemn commitment and facilitating our efforts to make our recently established consulate general in Bombay.”
The Jinnah House, he said, served as the premises of the British Deputy High Commission until April 1982. It will be recalled that Pakistan and India had decided to establish consulate generals in Bombay and Karachi respectively in Dec.1978, he added. He said Indian ambassador Bajpai suggested that Pakistan leased the Jinnah House for its consul general in Bombay. In February, 1980, the minister for external affairs of India informed the Pakistan embassy that “after the expiration of the lease, the British High Commission would be asked to vacate the premises in Pakistan’s favor.” This assurance was reiterated in 1981 during the visit of Indian foreign secretary to Islamabad.
However, he said, the Indian government subsequently went back on its promise and cited a variety of reasons such as opposition by Maharashtra authorities to, justify breach of faith.
He said Pakistan has not been able to set up its consulate general in Bombay. This situation, he added, militates against the principles of reciprocity which governs all aspects of our bilateral relations and the functioning of diplomatic and consul missions.
The spokesman further said that Pakistan High Commission used to setup once every two months or so a temporary visa office in Bombay to issue visas to Indian nationals belonging mostly to divided Muslim families to enable them to visit Pakistan. The office used to issue 2500 to 3000 visas in a matter of four or five days. Similar arrangements were made in Hyderabad, he added. He said that the Indian government has now decided that Pakistan will not be allowed to set up temporary offices. He said the govt. has taken a decision to extern all illegal entrants from Pakistan. He said that a large number of these illegal immigrants are India.
He said that the Indian govt. had not rejected the proposal of the govt. of Pakistan with regard to the reduction of consulate staff in Karachi.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 19, 1993
