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Faster visa to US under Delhi consular section

September 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sep 15 (ANI): The US Ambassador to India, Timothy Roemer on Monday inaugurated the US Embassy’s new Consular (visa) section in New Delhi.

The new facility is the result of a multi-year, 10 million dollar expansion that would permit the embassy to provide faster and better consular service to the Indian community, particularly catering to northern India.

James Herman, Minister Counsellor for Consular Affairs at the United States Embassy, told reporters that new consul section doesn’t mean that more visas would be issued, but it would help clear the backlog.

“The new facilities designed here are to allow us the capability to process more visas. It doesn’t mean that we are issuing more visas. It is simply a matter of making sure that we can process all the visas applicants who want to apply for visas in India,” he added.

“Three years ago the average waiting time in India for a visa appointment was a little bit over six months, that is now down to a well under two weeks. In some place like Chennai for example it’s just a two-day wait. So the point is to give us the capability of processing as many visas as there are applicants,” Herman said.

The new facility doubles the waiting area, triples customer seating, adds a modern queuing system to guide customers through the visa process and adds many interviewing windows to ensure that visa applicants and American citizens can speak to an officer more quickly and in a convenient, modern environment.

The demand for consular services in India has surged to new levels, mirroring the deepening strategic partnership. Over the past five years, the issuance of U.S. non-immigrant visas in India have more than doubled from approximately 275,000 in 2003 to approximately 560,000 in 2008.

Speaking on the recent travel advisory issued to the Americans travelling to India, Herman said that it is routine and just meant for the safety of US citizens.

“The travel alert is for a wider audience. It’s basically says the same things as last two warden messages. So if you look at it it’s the way we communicate with Americans who travel…it’s a fair assessment,” he added.

The travel alert recently posted on US embassy website states that last years Mumbai terror attacks provides a vivid reminder that hotels and other public places being attractive targets for militant groups.

The advisory ask US citizens to maintain heightened situational awareness and a low profile. (ANI)

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Australia says spy arrest could affect China’s business

July 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, July 12 (ANI): Australia’s Financial Services Minister Chris Bowen has warned that the country’s business people may not want to work in China in the wake of Australian origin Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu being arrested in the country on espionage charges.

“The Chinese Government will be very aware that it is not good for business certainty if there’s a regular pattern of foreign business people being incarcerated,” news.co.au quoted Brown, as saying.

Hu has been detained for a week in Shanghai after he was accused of stealing state secrets and undermining China’s economic security.

Bowen said the Hu’s case would discourage foreign traders, including Australians, from doing business with China.

“It should also be a concern for the Chinese government that if foreign businesses feel that their degree of uncertainty is high, it will change the way that foreign businesses around the world approach business in China, and approach the placement of executives in China,” he said.

Australia’s Trade Minister Simon Crean has also expressed his “strong concern” to China over the Hu case during a pre-arranged visit to Shanghai.

Bowen said Australia was making representations to China “very strongly”, and added that Canberra would look at any lessons to be learnt from the Hu case to better educate and support business people going to China.

Australia’s open opposition to Beijing’s allegation against Hu has placed the Kevin Rudd government in its worst foreign policy crisis since taking office in November 2007.

On Friday, Rudd, who had rejected the Opposition’s call to directly intervene the matter, said it was a time for “working calmly, methodically” through a very difficult consular case.

“As we’ve done with many consular cases before, we’ll make all representations at what levels are necessary,” Rudd had said.

Beijing, however, says it has evidence to back its claims that Hu and three Rio Tinto co-workers damaged China’s economy and harmed its security. (ANI)

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Pakistan and Britain in row over terror suspects

April 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Pakistan and Britain in row over terror suspects Islamabad – Pakistan and Britain were embroiled in a diplomatic row on Wednesday as British officials showed reluctance to give consular access and share information about Pakistani terror suspects detained last week.

Twelve suspects, including 10 Pakistani-born students, were picked up in the north-western cities of Liverpool and Manchester, on suspicion of having links to terrorists and planning bomb attacks in England.

Diplomatic sources told German Press Agency dpa the foreign ministry summoned the British deputy high commissioner, Ray Kyle, to demand that information be shared about the arrested suspects and that they be give consular access in London.

Instead, the high commission sent three lower-ranking diplomats led by Deputy Political Counsellor Alastair King Smith, a move that annoyed many Pakistani officials.

“We suspect British authorities of taking a precipitate decision against the alleged Pakistani students without any solid evidence to proceed against them in court,” said a senior official at Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry.

“They have realized their mistake and now they are trying to pass the buck to Pakistan, so that they could deport them to Pakistan and put on a brave face before the British public,” the sources said.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown earlier said the authorities had been tracking the suspects for links to al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. So far British officials have not been able to reveal the nature and timing of the terror plot the detainees were allegedly planning.

Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit confirmed that his office held talks with British diplomats about the Pakistani suspects, who reportedly are aged between late teens to 41.

“It is true that we have asked them to give us information and our High Commissioner in London to be given consular access, but they have not given any commitment,” he said.

The arrests were prompted after Britain’s most senior counter terrorism police officer, Bob Quick, was photographed with documents giving details of the operation. Quick resigned, but the disclosure of the documents forced police to move into action and arrest the suspects. (dpa)

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US embassy in Islamabad suspends routine consular service

April 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Apr 10 (PTI) The United States’ Embassy here suspended visa and routine consular services today due to “heightened security’, a spokesman said. The embassy will provide emergency consular services for Americans and the routine operations will resume on Monday.

The US consulates in Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar would be open today, the spokesman said. The spokesman did not give details about the security concerns but the move appeared to be linked to heightened security across Pakistan on the occasion of Good Friday.

The Pakistani capital has also been targeted in a recent series of terrorist attacks, with a suicide bomber killing eight security personnel at a paramilitary camp in the heart of the city on April 4. A statement issued by the US embassy said staff should be careful while travelling to public places, restaurants and hotels due to “serious security threats” to American citizens.

Offices of several international donor organisations in Islamabad would also remain closed today due to security threats, reports said. PTI.

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Terror alert in Islamabad; US embassy suspends work

April 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

The United States’ Embassy here suspended visa and routine consular services on Friday due to “heightened security’, a spokesman said.

The embassy will provide emergency consular services for Americans and the routine operations will resume on Monday. The US consulates in Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar would be open on Friday, the spokesman said.

The spokesman did not give details about the security concerns but the move appeared to be linked to heightened security across Pakistan on the occasion of Good Friday.

A statement issued by the US embassy said staff should be careful while travelling to public places, restaurants and hotels due to “serious security threats” to American citizens.

Offices of several international donor organizations in Islamabad would also remain closed today due to security threats, reports said.

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Security alert sounded in Islamabad amid terror threats

April 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, April 10 (DPA) Authorities enhanced security Friday in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, after sounding a security alert in the wake of renewed terrorist threats, officials said.

The US embassy temporarily suspended its visa and consular services ‘due to heightened security’ with instructions for US diplomats to avoid unnecessary movement and venturing out in public.

American citizens could contact the embassy in case of emergencies, but routine services would resume Monday, an embassy statement said.

Embassy operations were scaled down only in Islamabad while the US consulates in Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar remained open.

Senior police officials did not give specific details about the security threats, but the developments coincided with Good Friday, a major Christian holiday ahead of Easter Sunday.

Islamabad has been the scene of deadly terrorist strikes in a recent wave of violence by Islamist militants based in the country’s volatile north-western region.

Eight paramilitary troops were killed last weekend when a lone suicide bomber struck a makeshift camp on the edge of the capital’s most upmarket neighbourhood.

Authorities said they fear Islamabad could be targeted by militant groups in commando-style operations – a pattern that was observed in two attacks carried out in Lahore last month.

The fresh threats followed the arrests of at least four suspected terrorists in overnight raids, the English-language The News daily said.

Some private schools, mostly serving Pakistan’s elite, were also closed after receiving warnings from unknown sources, media reports said.

Additional security was also thrown around Islamabad’s already cordoned-off ‘Red Zone’, which houses diplomatic missions and key government buildings, including parliament.

A senior Taliban commander said Sunday that militants would be carrying out two bombings every week in revenge for US drone attacks on Pakistan’s tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

‘The warnings by militants cannot be ignored,’ the Geo News television channel quoted Pakistani Interior Ministry’s top official, Rehman Malik, as saying.

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US bars entry of Israel’s new national security aide

March 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Mar.17 (ANI): The United States has decided to bar the entry of Uzi Arad, who is expected to be Israel’s new national security adviser, for nearly two years on the grounds that he is an intelligence risk.

According to the Washington Times, Arad, a former member and director of intelligence for the Mossad, Israel’s spy service, is mentioned in the indictment of Lawrence Franklin, a former Pentagon analyst who pleaded guilty in 2005 to providing classified information about Iran in a conversation with two employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Beyond Arad’s status, Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to face difficulties abroad because of his choice, announced Monday, of Avigdor Lieberman to serve as foreign minister in a narrow new rightist government.

Lieberman, head of the Israel Is Our Home party, has advocated requiring Israel’s 1.46 million Arabs to take a loyalty test or risk expulsion.

Arad acknowledged to The Washington Times that he has not been able to obtain a visa to come to the United States, but said the Israeli government is trying to change that.

“The director general of the Israel Foreign Ministry did tell his American counterparts that there has been no cause to deny me a visa,” Arad told The Times.

Israeli and U.S. officials said Arad has been denied a U.S. visa since June 2007 under section 212 3(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

This gives consular officers and the Justice Department authority to bar people who may seek “to violate any law of the United States relating to espionage or sabotage” from entering the country.

Arad was a member of the Mossad spy service from 1975 to 1997. After retiring, he became Netanyahu’s foreign policy adviser.

While in the Mossad, Arad worked mainly on analysis, but he also served as a liaison for intelligence operations with allied services such as the CIA. (ANI)

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Talk directly with India: Menon tells Pakistan

February 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Onboard special aircraft, Feb.10 (ANI): Reacting strongly to reported leaks by the Pakistan establishment on its reply to the Mumbai terror dossier, India has asked Pakistan to talk directly and not through other channels.

Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said: “The fact is we have seen Pakistan saying various things at various times and various forms to various audiences, The day they come let you know our response, we are not going to react to the statements to the media, different statements to the different people through speculation, through guesswork, If they have something to say to us, they should come and directly talk to us.”

Pakistan is reportedly planting inspired leaks thorough the media. According to reports, Pakistan has completed its investigation into the Mumbai terror attacks and claims that the 26/11 conspiracy was hatched not in Pakistan, but in Europe.

Local media reports also claim that Pakistan is likely to request India for consular access to Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist captured alive during the Mumbai terror attacks.

Menon was speaking to reporters while returning from Dhaka.

He also expressed indirect skepticism over the inclusion of Pakistan in the proposed South Asia joint task force which has been mooted by Bangladesh Prime Minister and Awami League president Sheikh Hasina.

Taking a dig at Pakistan, Menon said: “We are ready to work with anybody who is ready to fight terrorism. We think it is a threat to all of us. It is not only a threat to India or Bangladesh, it is a global threat. Terrorism recognizes no borders. We are ready to work with anybody who is ready, willing and capable to fight terrorism. That is our stand.”

“A regional task force is a Bangladesh idea to get a group of countries to deal with this. We are still working on that, but as far as we are concerned, it is not a problem which any one Country can solve. It is a threat not for one, but for all. It is a problem that affects everybody and not all of us can solve alone,” he added.

Menon also flayed Pakistan for backtracking on its commitment made at the highest level.

“We have made our principles clear. Pakistan has told us in 2004, on September 2008 at the highest levels, that they wouldight terrorism , we are waiting to see that happen,” Menon said.

Earlier on Monday, both Bangladesh and India came down hard on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Dhaka has assured New Delhi that it will not allow inimical forces to use its land to spread terrorism in India.

India believes that If Islamabad continues with its hoodwinking campaign through the media and did not give a substantial reply to the Mumbai dossier at earliest, then tensions between the two nuclear armed South Asian neighbours will rise. (ANI)

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Pak to file cases against Kasab, others for planning Mumbai attacks

February 9, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Feb 9 (ANI): The Pakistani dossier on the Mumbai terror attacks is ready and the PPP-led Government will file cases against five Pakistanis, including the lone captured militant Ajmal Kasab, for planning the attacks.

The Interior Ministry’s report into the Mumbai carnage also states that the attacks were not planned in Pakistan or India, but in a European country, a TV channel quotes sources, as saying.

The conspirators kept in touch by using the Internet; The Nation quotes sources, as saying.

They also said that cases would be filed against five Pakistanis, including Kasab, for planning the Mumbai attacks.

Action will be taken against them in the country according to Pakistani laws and access to Kasab will be sought to identify his Indian ‘associates’, the sources said.

The government has not formally stated so far whether it will seek consular access to Kasab though it has acknowledged that he is a Pakistani national.

“The conspiracy was hatched outside Pakistan. But Kasab and his accomplices used Pakistan territory by using Internet lines of the country. But no Pakistani official was involved. There will be legal action against Kasab and others in Pakistan. Pakistan may also want access to Kasab for investigation.”

“There is no mention of Lashkar-e-Taiba in the report. The report talks only about the suspects,” said the channel.

Meanwhile, the Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) would meet here on Monday and review the investigation report prepared by the Pakistani authorities on the information provided by India on Mumbai attacks. (ANI)

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Pak rules out “official support” for “heinous crime” committing Kasab

January 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Jan.8 (ANI): After accepting that the lone surviving Mumbai gunner is a Pakistani national, Islamabad has now refused to give any official support to Ajmal Amir Kasab.

“Kasab has committed a heinous crime. He will not be provided any official support or consular access,” the Daily Times quoted Pak Foreign Office Spokesman Muhammad Sadiq, as saying.

Earlier, after a prolonged delay in accepting that Kasab belonged to its soil, Pakistan finally accepted that Kasab was its national.

“Ajmal Kasab is a Pakistani. Further investigations are under way,” Pakistan Information Minister Sherry Rehman said yesterday.

The acceptance from Pakistan comes after India provided a ‘dossier’ of evidence to prove that the perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage had links to Pakistan.

Kasab had written a letter to the Pakistani High Commission in India, seeking support and legal assistance from the Government of Pakistan.

However, Pakistan consulate had denied receiving any such letter. (ANI)

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Pak Information Minister admits Qasab is a Pakistani national

January 7, 2009 By Rajiv Gupta Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Jan.7 (ANI): Pakistan”s Information and Broadcasting Minister Sherry Rehman on Wednesday said that Ajmal Amir Qasab, the lone terrorist captured after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, is indeed a Pakistani national.

In a text message to the Indian television channel NDTV, Rehman confirmed the news.

“We (Pakistan) are confirming Ajmal Qasab is from Pakistan, but investigations are going on,” Rehman was quoted, as saying.

“Qasab has no connection with the official agencies,” she added.

The Pakistan Foreign Office has also confirmed this news. The confirmation came two days after New Delhi handed over the evidence linking the Mumbai attackers to Pakistan.

On Tuesday, Oasab had again asked Pakistan Government for consular access and legal aid, which Islamabad has refused.

He has been remanded to further police custody till January 19 for his role in the shootout at the Cama and Albless Hospital in South Mumbai.

Ajmal and his slain accomplice Ismail Khan had attacked the Cama and Albless Hospital in South Mumbai killing seven persons there.

Till Wednesday, Pakistan had been consistent in denying that Qasab was one of its citizens despite news reports saying that media had visited his village in Faridkot in Pakistan”s Punjab Province. Reports also carried an interview with Qasab”s father in which he identified Ajmal as his son.

Earlier, a high-ranking government official had told the Dawn newspaper that because of the nature of his crime the government has still not taken any decision on whether to provide Qasab with consular access.

The top official said the investigations had started soon after the initial reports had suggested that Ajmal Kasab may possibly be a Pakistani national.

However, the authorities wanted to be doubly sure of his identity as there existed no record of Kasab and his family in the National Data Base which is maintained by the NADRA. Details of the preliminary investigations submitted to the government have still not been made public.

The official said Qasab is the son of Amir Kasab and Noor Illahi.

But the identity of other militants killed in the Mumbai carnage is yet to be established.

Senior security officials said that preliminary investigations have established these militants were operating on their own and had absolutely no link with any section of the country’s security apparatus.

A formal announcement in this regard is expected in the next few days. (ANI)

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