Liberalised visa regime pact won't be inked at present: Interior Minister Rehman Malik

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan today said an agreement on a new liberalised visa regime with India will not be inked during the ongoing Home Secretary-level talks here, suggesting that the pact should be concluded at the political level.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik made these remarks after meeting the Indian delegation led by Home Secretary R K Singh, who is in Islamabad for talks with Pakistan's Interior Secretary Khwaja Siddique Akbar.

It was widely expected that the two Secretaries would ink the agreement on the new visa regime at the conclusion of their two-day talks today.

Pakistan had decided in principle to sign the agreement on the new liberalised visa regime with India but the pact would not be signed during the current round of talks, Malik told the media.

The signing of the pact had been postponed, he said without giving details of when it was expected to be inked.

The agreement involves important issues and should be finalised at the political level, he said.

In response to a question, Malik said Home Minister P Chidambaram was welcome to visit Pakistan and that he "would be glad" if Chidambaram comes to Islamabad for the signing of the visa agreement.

Malik said both sides had exchanged dossiers on terrorism-related issues and that Pakistan had received additional evidence from India against JuD chief and LeT founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed.

However, he said Pakistani authorities could not act on the basis of "hearsay" and that they would examine the evidence against Saeed.