States told to deport Pak nationals staying illegally

States told to deport Pak nationals staying illegally
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

HYDERABAD, JAN 3: The Central Government has instructed the State Governments to take immediate steps to deport all Pakistani nationals who are overstaying in the country after the expiry of their visa.

The instruction came in the wake of the recent hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight, Union Minister of State for Home Ch Vidyasagar Rao said here on Monday.

Addressing a press conference, Rao said that as per Government records there were about 11,000 Pakistani nationals staying illegally in various parts of the country. Around 2,000 Pakistani nationals have gone ``underground'' and efforts would be made to trace them, he said.

As per the seventh schedule of the Constitution, it was the State Governments' responsibility to take appropriate action to apprehend and deport them, Rao said.

Asking the states to give top priority in tackling this problem, he warned that incidents such as hijacking could occur again if this was not carried out. The Government also plans to bring out a white paper on theactivities of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) in the country, Rao said.He said infiltrators crossing to the country through Indo-Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan border were trying to destabilise the country. But ``we are not in a position to count the number of infiltrators,'' he added.

The Union Minister said strengthening of the border security by fencing was fast progressing and efforts were also on to beef up the intelligence wing. Referring to the handling of the hijack crisis by the Government, he said though there was some ``dissatisfaction'' among some quarters in the country, the international community appreciated the Government for its proper handling of the situation.

Rao also denied the reports that Union Home Minister L K Advani had difference of opinion with regard to the release of terrorists in exchange of the hostages.

``The decision taken was collective one and there was absolutely no difference in the Government over it,'' he said adding it also received support from allparties.