'Big Brother' US requests 'record' doubling of its diplomats in Pakistan

Islamabad, Oct 30 : Pakistan's Foreign Ministry has informed the National Assembly's Sub-Committee on Human Rights that the United States has requested to raise the strength of its diplomats in Pakistan to 749, adding fuel to speculations that America was seeking to play a much larger role in the country through its Islamabad embassy, which is already under massive overhaul.

“At present, 379 US diplomats are working at the US embassy. They want to raise their strength to 749 and have applied for 200 more visas,” The Daily Times quoted a Pakistan Foreign Ministry official as having told the sub-committee.

The Ministry officials also told the body that the Foreign Office had extended the visas of 432 US nationals during last year.

It also highlighted that the strength of US diplomats in India and Russia is 325 and 560 respectively.

Questions are being raised over the motives behind the massive expansion work on the US embassy, which is nearing completion in Islamabad.

According to an estimate, Washington is planning to spend a whopping one billion dollars for revamping its main embassy building in Islamabad and increase the strength of its staff.

The Obama Administration is about to spend 405 million dollars for the reconstruction and refurbishment of the main embassy building and 111 million dollars for constructing a new complex for 330 personnel. A further 197 million dollars would be spent for construction of a housing unit for about 250 personnel.

18 acres of land has already been acquired by the US for the project for a meager one billion rupees, and a Turkish firm has already built a 153-room compound for the embassy, sources said.

The US is also planning to send about 1000 additional staff to Pakistan, where 750 US officials are already stationed against a sanctioned strength of only 350 personnel.

But what is more worrying for Islamabad is that this surge would also boost the number of marines by over 350.

Not only this, the United States is also planning to give its consular buildings in Lahore and Peshawar a new look.

Experts believe that this is a clear-cut strategy of the US to augment its presence and establish a control over the region.

“Clearly these are people who would be coming under cover of diplomatic assignments for covert operations that would be detrimental for Pakistan’s security interests,” said an expert on conditions of anonymity.

Many believe that with this expansion, the United States is planning to use Pakistan for pushing its policies in the region, similar to what it did in Baghdad.