Pakistan, UK pledge to boost cooperation to finalise treaties
Newswire
Islamabad: UK’s Minister of State for South Asia and Commonwealth and Development Office, Lord Tariq Ahmad called on Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid Ahmed this week and discussed matters related to promoting relations between the two countries.
They also discussed matters of British Pakistanis, enhancing people to people contact and the cooperation in the field of security, trade and culture.
Earlier, Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid Ahmad welcomed the UK’s Minister of State in his office. Lord Ahmad thanked the minister for extending courtesies during his visit and appreciated Prime Minister Imran Khan’s 10 billion Tsunami Tree Project to fight climate change in Pakistan.
The two sides agreed to strengthen coordination between the Ministry of Interior and the UK’s Home Office to improve the ability of the law enforcement and criminal justice systems in both the countries to work together.
They stressed to work together and support each other in their joint efforts in tackling transnational crimes. Lord Ahmad presented a Letter of Intent from the UK government seeking further cooperation in various areas of mutual interest.
He said that UK was looking forward to the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to UK.
The ministers agreed to enhance coordination in realizing agreements of Pakistan-UK Returns Arrangements and the Extradition Treaty between the two countries. They expressed their satisfaction over the progress on the signing of Pakistan-UK Returns Arrangement (Agreement) as the draft was ready to be placed on the agenda of the Federal Cabinet for approval.
The interior minister told the UK’s Minister of State that Pakistan enjoyed Extradition Treaties with a number of countries and was keen to get it signed with the UK too, at the earliest. Efforts should be geared up from both sides to get the Extradition Treaty finalised soon, the minister said, as this would improve the processes needed to extradite criminals from the UK to Pakistan.
Sheikh Rashid said that Pakistan and UK enjoyed historic relations to which Pakistan valued a great deal. He said that the presence of 1.6 million British Pakistanis in UK cemented this relationship further.
He said that Pakistan valued the services of these British Pakistanis living in the UK over their philanthropic work in various regions of Pakistan.
The minister also raised the issue of placing Pakistan on UK’s list of countries barred from entering UK despite the fact that Pakistan had one of the lowest rates of COVID-19 infections.
Lord Ahmad further said that Pakistan and UK enjoyed deep-rooted relations, which were based on shared history and experiences, reinforced by strong people to people contacts.
A strong partnership between Pakistan and UK remained important in promoting and sustaining peace, security and stability in the wider region, he added.
UK’s High Commissioner to Pakistan, Christian Turner, Additional Secretaries of Interior Sher Alam and Iftikhar Shalvani also attended the meeting.
