The Interim Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Jalil Abbas Jilani, on Thursday met Afghan counterpart Amir Khan Muttaqi in Tibet amid the refugee issue between the two countries.
The two Foreign Ministers are in China for a two-day visit to participate in the third Trans-Himalayan Forum for International Cooperation.
According to the Pakistan Foreign Office, during the meeting, Jilani reaffirmed Pakistan?’s commitment to further strengthen bilateral ties with Afghanistan. He also underscored that challenges confronting regional peace and stability should be addressed in a "collaborative spirit through collective strategies." The meeting comes days after the Pakistan government gave an ultimatum to all undocumented immigrants, including Afghan nationals, to leave Pakistan by October 31st to avoid legal action. The decision was taken in an apex committee meeting headed by interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar.
The caretaker Interior Minister announcing the deadline said that the cross border movement would be subject to passports and visas, while electronic Afghan identity cards would only be accepted until October 31.
In response, the spokesperson for the Afghan Taliban government termed the move "unacceptable" while urging authorities to revise the policy.
Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, during weekly press briefing here in federal capital Islamabad on Thursday clarified that the ongoing operation against illegal immigrants in the country was not targeted at any particular nationality. "The ongoing action envisaged repatriating those individuals who had either overstayed their visas or did not have the valid documents to stay," she added.
Source: Kuwait News Agency
