New visa agreement to be signed between India and Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: A new visa agreement between India and Pakistan will be signed during External Affairs Minister S M Krishna's upcoming visit to Islamabad to normalise people-to-people contacts, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said today.

Krishna will visit Pakistan during September 7-9 to review the last round of the bilateral dialogue with Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.

Practical steps will be taken to liberalise the process for issuing visas to normalise people-to-people contacts, Malik told the media outside parliament.

India and Pakistan are improving their relations according to the wishes of the people of both countries, he said.

The two ministers will also chair a meeting of the India-Pakistan Joint Commission, which last met in 2007.

The new relaxed visa regime will, for the first time, include group tourist visas, visas on arrival for senior citizens and children and year-long multiple-entry and multi-city visas for businessmen.