TIBET: Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani on Thursday discussed the challenges confronting regional peace and stability with his Afghan counterpart Amir Khan Muttaqi in a meeting in Tibet.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Foreign Minister Jilani highlighted those challenges confronting regional peace and stability be addressed in collaborative spirit through collective strategies.
Jilani is in China on a two-day official trip to participate in the 3rd Trans-Himalayan Forum for International Cooperation, being held from 4-5 October.
The statement said that the foreign minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to further strengthen bilateral relations with Afghanistan.
The meeting comes two days after Pakistan’s interim government gave an ultimatum to all illegal immigrants, including Afghan citizens, to leave Pakistan by 1 November or risk imprisonment and deportation to their respective countries.
In a similar development, the Foreign Office on Thursday categorically rejected the impression that the operation against illegal immigrants targeted a particular nationality.
FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch at the weekly media briefing in Islamabad that ongoing action envisages repatriation of immigrants who have either overstayed their visas or do not have valid documents to stay in the country.
She clarified that the operation had nothing to do with the 1.4 million Afghan immigrants that Pakistan had been hosting since decades with exemplary hospitality and generosity despite its own constrained economic situation.
FM @JalilJilani met Afghan Acting FM Amir Khan Muttaqi in Tibet, China. FM reaffirmed 🇵🇰s commitment to further strengthen bilateral ties with Afg. Underscored that challenges confronting regional peace & stability be addressed in collaborative spirit thru collective strategies. pic.twitter.com/ACWnOXHKC2
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) October 5, 2023
Pakistan’s ultimatum to illegal immigrants
Pakistan decided to evict illegal immigrants following a surge in terror activities, especially in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
In last week’s deadly bombings targeting religious gatherings, at least sixty-four people, including minors were killed. One of the suicide bombers identified was as an Afghan citizen, according to interim Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti.
On Tuesday, Bugti announced that Pakistan had set 1 November deadline for illegal immigrants to leave voluntarily or face forcible expulsion.
