Chaudhary Nisar, Ahsan Iqbal lock horns over visa issue

Pakistan is fast becoming a preferred spot among tourists, therefore the current Interior Minister, Ahsan Iqbal proposed that people from a number of countries should be issued visa on arrival. This proposition was put forward by the Interior Minister so that it is easier for foreigners to visit the country.

However, the former Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan did not agree with the and instead proposed that the current policy of issuing visa through the embassy should continue.

This and the issue of status of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) formed part of Wednesday’s debate in the National Assembly (NA) between the current interior minister and his predecessor.

According to the details provided, the debate on this sensitive issue started when Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) MNA Dr Shireen Mazari raised them through a point of order while taking advantage of the current and former interior ministers in the house.

“If there are security concerns, it does not mean that Pakistan should be shut for foreigners,” Mr Iqbal said while defending his ministry’s recent decision of offering visa on arrival to tourists from 24 countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, reversing yet another decision taken by former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar.

Iqbal explained that such visas would be issued only to the tourists through designated tour operators after a security check, and policy guidelines in this regard had also been prepared.

Meanwhile Nisar was of the view that this policy can be misused like it was during Musharaf’s regime, and expose the country to a number of threats. He asked the minister to present complete data in this regard, saying that otherwise he would himself release these details. He suggested to Mr Iqbal to continue this policy without succumbing to any pressure.

Iqbal further defended the government’s recent decision to allow INGOs to continue their operations in the country till a final decision on their appeals against cancellation of their registration. He said that previously there was a discrepancy in the registration procedure for INGOs but his ministry had now removed that.

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Posted by fatimaarshad on Jan 25 2018. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.