ISLAMABAD: US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice G. Wells will arrive in Islamabad today on a four-day state visit, according to a media note issued by the US Department of State.
The American diplomat has been in the region since January 13 and has already been to Sri Lanka and India before traveling to Pakistan.
Wells’s visit to Islamabad comes immediately after Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi concluded his trip to the US where he interacted with senior United Nations and American officials in New York and Washington.
While Qureshi traveled to the US as part of his country’s Middle East diplomacy, he informed a news conference in Washington that the Pakistani administration was eager to receive American support on issues of strategic significance.
According to media reports, Pakistan asked the US to help get it off the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list. It also urged the American authorities to revisit their travel advisory to Pakistan since that could help the South Asian nation enhance tourism and earn significant revenue.
During her stay in Pakistan, Wells is expected to meet with senior civilian and military leadership of the country. Her meetings with Pakistani government functionaries are likely to focus on US-Pakistan bilateral relations, conflict in Afghanistan, situation in Indian-administered Kashmir, and the overall security situation of the region.
US diplomat Alice Wells to arrive in Pakistan today
https://arab.news/8yt9u
US diplomat Alice Wells to arrive in Pakistan today
- The American deputy secretary of state for South and Central Asia has already visited Sri Lanka and India
- Pakistan wants to enlist the support of the administration in Washington over strategic issues
Pakistan arrests suspect arriving from Cambodia amid crackdown on human smuggling
- Suspect worked at an “online fraud company” in Cambodia, later started smuggling people from Pakistan, says FIA
- Pakistan has intensified crackdown against human smugglers after hundreds of migrants drowned near Pylos in 2023
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Sunday said it had arrested a key suspect involved in smuggling humans who had arrived from Cambodia, alleging he was also part of an international fraud network.
The suspect, identified as Zainullah, was arrested by FIA officials when he arrived in the southern port city of Karachi from Cambodia.
Zainullah had traveled from Pakistan to Cambodia in September 2024, a press release issued by the agency said.
“He worked at an online fraud company in Cambodia and later became involved as an agent in recruiting individuals from Pakistan,” the FIA said.
The FIA said it recovered images of multiple individuals’ passports, payment receipts and bank transaction records after extracting data from Zainullah’s phone.
It said the suspect received money through personal bank accounts and a cryptocurrency account.
“The suspect has been handed over to the FIA Anti-Human Trafficking Circle, Karachi, for further legal proceedings,” the FIA said.
“Further investigation is underway.”
Pakistan intensified action against illegal migration in 2023 after hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel sank off the Greek town of Pylos, one of the deadliest boat disasters in the Mediterranean.
Authorities say they continue to target networks sending citizens abroad through dangerous routes, following heightened scrutiny at airports and a series of arrests involving forged documents.
Pakistan’s interior ministry said this week illegal migration to Europe has declined by 47 percent this year after its nationwide crackdown, saying that more than 1,700 human smugglers have been arrested in 2025.
