'Foreign spies' can no longer enter Pakistan as diplomats: Minister

Islamabad: Pakistan has tightened its visa regime to prevent the entry of foreign intelligence agents as diplomats and make sure that the country is not being used as a 'Banana Republic', the Interior Minister said today.

The Interior Ministry was thoroughly checking and verifying every visa application before granting anyone admission to Pakistan, including diplomats, Minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan told reporters here.

"This was not the case a few years ago when people used to travel to Pakistan using faked documents or without a valid visa and had to be given documents at airports here," he said.

"This does not happen anymore. No one can enter the country without proper documentation; and if they do, they are sent back immediately and the airline they are travelling on is penalised heavily," Nisar was quoted as saying by Dawn newspaper.

He also said that agents from foreign intelligence agencies cannot enter the country under the cover of diplomatic assignments. Nisar did not name any country or intelligence agency.

The interior minister also said Pakistan will soon receive all visa applications online so that records can be maintained in a central database.

"We are moving past that era where one hand does not know what the other is up to in this country," Nisar said.

The centralisation process will begin as soon as formal approval is obtained from the Prime Minister House, he said.

Nisar also spoke of a crackdown on diplomatic missions in the country under which 40 houses belonging to diplomats have been emptied.

"If someone asks me why there wasn't a further inquiry into the matter, my answer is that there was no record-keeping in the past 10 years, and so these cases cannot be pursued."

"Many of those people came into the country without a visa; and those who did have visas, their records were never sent to us by their embassies," he claimed.

"People within security agencies who were in service at the time told me that there had been some 'political deal- making' at the time and there was no record of how many people were coming into the country and leaving," he added.

"It took me a while to get to this point, but I can say with full confidence now that this country is not being used as a 'Banana Republic' anymore and all people who are entering the country are accounted for."

"Once our system goes online, everyone will be able to find out who is coming to Pakistan and is when," he added.