Govt may tighten visa norms for Pak origin citizens visiting India

New Delhi, Dec 13 (PTI) Concerned over increasing
number of Pakistani-origin citizens living in the West being
attracted to terrorism, the Government is contemplating to
tighten the visa approval norms for such persons visiting
India.
Home Ministry sources said the government was
particularly concerned over the recent reports of five young
Americans -- two of them Pakistani-origin -- arrested in
Pakistan for links with Al-Qaeda.
The arrests came in the wake of busting of the
Lashker-e-Taiba plot, in which the Pakistan-based terror group
was planning to use David Coleman Headley, whose father was a
Pakistani national, to launch terror attacks in India.
Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana, an aide of
Headley, was also arrested for his links with terror groups.
"These are disturbing reports as India is always a
prime target of terrorists. We have to think ways which can
effectively deal with such a sensitive issue," the sources
said.
Among the steps that are being mulled by the
government include making it mandatory for visa applications
of Pakistan-born citizens of any country to be cleared in New
Delhi, fixing number of visits in a year and having reference
letters from past travellers.
Government's concern was amply reflected when Home
Secretary G K Pillai had said time has come to "think the
unthinkable" as terrorists were working on new strategies to
break the country's security. (MORE) PTI