Pakistan has declared that it will ensure implementation of “one-document regime” at its borders with Afghanistan, under which entry into Pakistan was only allowed on a visa and passport.
After months of protests against tight travel regulations on the Pakistan-Afghan border and several rounds of negotiations, the traders and locals in Chaman and government officials had struck an agreement resolving all the issues except the visa regime.
After successful talks over the weekend, border crossing was reopened with some relaxation in travel restrictions but the officials outrightly rejected to reverse the “one-document regime” imposed in October last year.
Addressing her weekly news briefing in Islamabad on Thursday, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said “One-document regime will be ensured and no foreigner will be allowed to enter into Pakistan without proper documents.”
Replying to a question about a possible request from the US ambassador in Pakistan for a meeting with imprisoned PTI founder Imran Khan, the spokesperson said “We will deal with such a request in accordance with Pakistan’s laws and Constitution.”
Pakistan also welcomed the ‘Declaration of Unity’ signed by the Palestinian political factions in Beijing while recognizing and commending China’s role in bringing the factions together for meaningful negotiations.
“Unity amongst the Palestinian people is of paramount significance in view of the ongoing war crimes against the Palestinian people, particularly in Gaza, and the blatant disregard for international law by the Israeli occupation forces,” the Foreign Office spokesperson said.
Calling upon the international community to intervene immediately to bring an end to the ongoing illegal and incessant aggression in Gaza, she reiterated Pakistan’s support for the realization of the inalienable right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, their right of return to Palestine and the establishment of an independent state of Palestine with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
Regarding the periodic report of the Human Rights Committee in Geneva on India, she said during the proceedings, important questions were raised about arrests under draconian laws like Public Safety Act and Public Security Act, and frequent suspension of mobile internet service in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
“This demonstrates continuing concerns of the international human rights machinery about the dismal human rights situation in IIOJK. We call on the international community to take note of these human rights abuses by India in IIOJK and to bring an end to the suppression of the Kashmiri people,” she said and reiterated Pakistan’s continued political, diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiri people.
The FO spokesperson announced that at the invitation of the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will visit Tehran on July 30,
2024, to attend the inauguration ceremony of the President-elect of Iran Dr Masoud Pezeshkian. The visit attests to the commitment by the two countries to strengthen leadership level engagement and bilateral cooperation, she added.
To a question, she said Pakistan had taken note of a discussion at a “private event” held at a side room of the Houses of Lords, held by a political party in London that also invited some parliamentarians.
However, she said that the parliamentarians and legislative bodies should contribute to promoting positive dynamics in bilateral relations and developing mutual understanding and respect.
