FO confirms arrival of 8 Pakistanis deported by US

ISLAMABAD: As Pakistani illegal immigrants are being sent home by several world capitals, the Foreign Office confirmed on Friday eight Pakistani nationals, who were staying illegally in the US, have returned on Thursday.

Speaking at the weekly media briefing, the spokesperson, Shafqat Ali Khan said the interior ministry and the FIA could give the identities of those deported. He added that at this point, Islamabad and Washington are in discussion with each other.

“About the broader policy, any Pakistani who is staying illegally abroad, we try to facilitate their return, but there are certain procedures in place. If a person is found to be staying illegally, first we confirm his/her nationality. Once the nationality is confirmed, we accept back our national”, he added.

Regarding illegal Pakistani immigrants returning from Europe, the spokesperson explained that there is a EURA readmission agreement signed between the government of Pakistan and the European Union.

“If any Pakistani national is found to be staying illegally in any of these countries, there is a procedure involved for deportation. Only after that process those individuals are deported back to Pakistan. There is nothing out of the ordinary. If any country’s citizen is found staying in another country illegally, of course that is against the law, and that his country takes its citizens back. In case of European Union, it’s a very structured arrangement,” he said.

Responding to questions about present state of relations between Islamabad and Washington, the spokesperson emphasised that country’s relations with the US are an important priority of its foreign policy based on the foundational element of interstate relations of non-interference in internal affairs of each other.

“Our relations with the United States are an important priority of our foreign policy. We intend to pursue our engagement with the new US administration and interactions between the two countries continue. These relations are very strong, dense, and multi-dimensional,” he pointed out.

Commenting on the broader direction of Pak-US relations, he said that these are decades-old relations and are robust and strong.

“Our desire is to continue with this important relationship. The two sides are already engaged through diplomatic channels. Pakistan remains committed to carrying this relationship forward,” he added.

When asked about US lawmakers who have written a letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to put pressure on Pakistan to fully restore democracy and release Imran Khan, the spokesperson responded, “About the full restoration of democracy, Pakistan is a democracy. About three members of the Congress writing to Mr Rubio, what I can say as that one of the foundational elements of interstate relations is non-interference in internal affairs of each other,” he said.

Pakistan has welcomed the continuation of the F-16 oversight programme, which is a regular feature of Pakistan-US defence collaboration under the “end user agreement”.

When asked to comment on President Donald Trump’s remarks that he would not have let go of the control of Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan if he were in place of Joe Biden, the spokesperson said, “What happens between Afghanistan and the US is a matter between two sovereign countries. The kind of relations or interaction they want to pursue is up to them. On the question of the weapons left behind, we have been raising our concerns about the fact that these sophisticated weapons are finding their way into the hands of terrorists who are carrying out terrorist activities in Pakistan. We have impressed upon this issue before the international community and the Afghan authorities.” Turning to Pak-Afghan relations the spokesperson made it clear that the key stumbling block in the way of the progress is the question of sanctuaries enjoyed by terrorists on the Afghan territory.

“This is a problem we have been emphasising to the Afghan authorities that needs to be addressed squarely and clearly, and we would continue to pursue various channels of communication with the Afghan authorities to take care of this problem. The sanctuaries enjoyed by the terrorist elements inside Afghanistan remain the key point. Unless this issue is resolved, the full potential of these relations cannot be harnessed,” said the spokesperson.

When asked to comment on the recurring problem of the closure of the Pakistan-Iran border and the Torkham border with Afghanistan, the spokesperson pointed out that with Iran there are multiple agencies involved from both countries.

“There are customs, immigration, security, and layers of government departments interacting with one another. At times there could be some misunderstanding like lack of proper documentation. But that doesn’t mean there is a rupture of the commercial interaction between the two countries”, he said.

Regarding the Torkham border, he said that the the problem is that the Afghan side is trying to construct a border post on Pakistan’s side unilaterally.

“We have urged them to resolve such issues through bilateral mechanism, such as Joint Coordination Committee meeting, instead of resorting to unilateral actions. We are hopeful that the matter would be resolved through dialogue. With regard to the issue of decision making, I cannot comment on the details of the decision making, but border cannot be closed by an individual on his whim. If a situation is aggravated due to some development on the other side, till that matter is resolved the border can be closed”, he said.

Pakistan says it has raised the issue of US sophisticated weapons being used by terrorists for attacks inside Pakistan.

“International community should help to deal with this problem. About whether an investigation will be launched, or why US withdrew from Afghanistan. It’s something internal to the USA. I can’t comment on that”, he said.

According to a US Congress report that $7.2 billion worth of aircraft, guns, vehicles, ammunition, and specialised equipment like night vision goggles and biometric devices were left in Afghanistan when US troops left in 2021.

According to AFP, a Pakistani diplomat confirmed that this was the first such flight since Trump´s second term began in January.

“But (it is) not the first ever as in 2019, several such flights also arrived in Pakistan,” the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.