LAHORE - On one hand, the US administration is urging Pakistan to do more and at the same time threatening it with dire consequences, on the other it is writing letters to Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the issuance of visas to foreign experts without intimating Punjab’s interior department and getting clearance from security agencies.

These experts are supposed to work on the projects underway in southern Punjab.

The C&W department has asked a Karachi-based private company to get visas for three consultants, who will inspect the quality of Khanewal-Lodhran road.

The company has been told that the foreign ministry has been approached for the issuance of visas, which will be for a period of one year, and that these would not be accompanied by NOCs.

These three foreigners are Serbians, and their names are Dcjan Srpsko Jovano, Fliip Srpsko Trajkovic and Zivan Srpsko Novitovic. They are due to arrive in the last week of October.

However, it is not yet clear as to what are the qualifications of these foreigners, which have necessitated their services as consultants.

When the home department officials were contacted for comments, they said that an SOP had been issued according to which no department can hand a letter to a foreigner for the issuance of a visa.

When the sources were asked about the expertise of these consultants given that Serbia is an extremely cold country and there is a different method of building roads there, there was no response.

It is worth reminding here that in the past Blackwater agents had entered Pakistan on visas, but without getting security clearances, and later these same persons had spied on the country’s sensitive matters. Also worth remembering is the incident in which an American contractor had killed two members of the same family in Lahore.

The only thing remains to be seen is whether the letter meant for issuing visas to suspicious persons is the same as it was in the past.