Request for Altaf Hussain’s passport sent to Interior Ministry: Foreign Office

Pakistan says it does not favour one party over another in the ongoing Afghan elections.

ISLAMABAD: The request for Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain’s passport has been sent to the Interior Ministry, Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam Khan said on Thursday, during the weekly briefing.

During the briefing, Aslam also mentioned that the Interior Ministry has yet to respond to the request.

She also announced that as soon their response is received, the request will be forwarded to the Pakistan High Commission in Britain.

Explaining the process, Aslam said that missions forward requests for the CNIC and passport to relevant authorities, that is NADRA and IMPASS, who process the documents.

Last week, Altaf Hussain had announced that he had submitted his application for a Pakistani passport and a Pakistani identity card on April 4, adding that he could come to Pakistan any time.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony of Nazeer Hussain University in FB Area of Karachi via a signature telephonic address, Altaf had said, “Pakistan was my home, is my home and will always remain my home. I can come back to Pakistan any day.”

To a question, Khan confirmed that Pakistan does not have any extradition treaty with the UK, neither does it have any arrangement for the exchange of sentenced persons.

Afghanistan border

To a question about increased vigilance across the Pak-Afghan border for the course of the Afghan elections, Khan said that border management was the responsibility of both sides, however, with regards to the increased surveillance during the Afghan elections and status on the border, she said it fall under the army.

Explaining the systems at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the spokesperson said there were more than 1200 posts that undertook surveillance and that Pakistan was keen on introducing bio-metric systems on the border.

The spokesperson added that Pakistan had yet to see equally strong measures from the Afghan side or from NATO and ISAF.

To another question about the possibility of Dr Abdullah Abdullah becoming the next president of Afghanistan, the spokesperson reiterated that Pakistan did not support one party over the other, and that a peaceful and stable Afghanistan was essential for peace and progress in Pakistan.

She said she disagreed with the view that any particular Afghan leader was against Pakistan.

Nawaz’s UK visit

Khan also revealed that the Prime Minister will be visiting the UK either at the end of April or early May at the invitation of the British prime minister, adding that the visit will provide an opportunity to review progress on the Enhanced Strategic Partnership.

Asked whether Pakistan has an extradition treaty with the UK, the spokesperson replied in the negative.

On a question about a report by the Foreign and Commonwealth office of the United Kingdom in which they termed Pakistan as a country of concern, the spokesperson said that all countries need to look at the condition of human rights in their own territory.

"All governments need to look at their own record. The Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch and other similar organisations issue regular reports about human rights situation in all countries.

"We hope that as members of the International Community, we can all work together to see how best we can improve the human rights situation worldwide and not to keep the focus on one country."

Pakistan-US strategic dialogue

Speaking about the Pak-US Strategic Dialogue, Khan said that all groups under the Strategic Dialogue rubric had met, except the Law Enforcement and Counterterrorism Cooperation group.

She said the Working Group on Economy and Finance met recently when the Finance Minister visited Washington and discussed, among other things, energy projects, infrastructure and enhancement of bilateral trade.