Pakistan, UK to strengthen anti-drug cooperation

Agree to convene working group meeting

ISLAMABAD:

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and British Minister of State for Security Dan Jarvis on Friday agreed to expand cooperation between Pakistan and the United Kingdom in seven key areas, including counterterrorism, anti-narcotics, NADRA, cybercrime, immigration, coast guards and training programmes.

British Minister of State for Security Dan Jarvis visited the Ministry of Interior, where he met Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry. The two sides also held delegation-level talks to discuss bilateral cooperation in security-related matters.

During the meeting, both countries agreed to strengthen cooperation in counterterrorism, drug control, cybercrime, immigration, identity management through NADRA, coast guard operations and training programmes.

Dan Jarvis appreciated the performance of Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in preventing illegal immigration. He said cybercrime was an international challenge and all countries needed to work together to address it effectively.

He said Pakistan and the United Kingdom already had strong cooperation in several areas and wanted to expand it further. He also acknowledged Pakistan's sacrifices and efforts in the fight against terrorism.

Both sides decided to finalise a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on anti-narcotics cooperation at the earliest. The agreement will make cooperation between the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) and Pakistan's Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) fully operational.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that 330 cases involving attempts to smuggle drugs into the United Kingdom had been foiled over the past few years.

The two sides also agreed to convene a meeting of the working group established between the interior ministries of Pakistan and the United Kingdom soon.