Pakistan

Israeli citizens ‘mistakenly’ allowed conditional entry in Pakistan

Israel's name was later removed from Interior Ministry's seven-country list on FIA website

Waqas Ahmed December 31, 2018

ISLAMABAD: The Directorate General of Immigration and Passports conditionally allowed Israeli citizens to visit Pakistan, but the director blamed the interior ministry for the “mistake” and ordered “correction”, it was revealed on Monday.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) recently released rules and regulations for citizens of seven countries for visiting Pakistan, sources told The Express Tribune. The list contained the names of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nigeria, Somalia, Palestine, and Israel.

On its website, the FIA explained rules and regulations for Israeli citizens visiting Pakistan. They were required to register themselves with the police and seek a stay permit from the district police officer (DPO) of the concerned district.

SCREENGRAB

Israeli citizens were also supposed to return the ‘stay permit’ before leaving the country; otherwise they would not be issued the ‘travel permit’, which is mandatory for leaving the country.

According to the rules, people having ‘work visa’ or ‘Saarc visa’ would be exempt from police registration. Similarly, Israeli citizens are also exempt from police registration, but Indian citizens have to register themselves with the police after arrival in Pakistan.

Pakistan will not establish ties with Israel: President Alvi

Immigration Director Ismatullah Junejo has said that the list was issued by the interior ministry and that Israeli’s name was mistakenly included in the list. “Israel’s name is being removed from the list after it was pointed out by the media,” he added.

Junejo further said that Pakistan’s state policy vis-à-vis state of Israel is very clear. Pakistan has not recognised the state of Israel and Pakistani citizens cannot travel to Israel on a Pakistani passport.

In October, President Dr Arif Alvi had dismissed reports of an Israeli business jet’s landing at the Islamabad International Airport, asserting that Pakistan will not establish ties with Israel.

The president termed the reports “baseless and unfounded” while speaking to the media at the airport before leaving for a three-day visit to Turkey.

COMMENTS (5)

Dr. Asjad Iqbal | 5 years ago | Reply There are reports that Israelis entered Pakistan. This event shows that the government is completely inept in controlling border. Any terrorist could enter Pakistan and commit his crime at leisure.

Nowornever | 5 years ago | Reply Let them come... Pakistan need to be friends with all nations. Palestine has unfortunately hit the dead end. All the Arab nations need to learn from this result which is that only way to protect and safeguard your lands are to first make the country strong enough and then educate your youth. Israel is a small country yet the strongest in the entire Middle East. Why is that? Go figure!