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  • Reports of Pakistanis meeting Israeli officials ‘load of rubbish’ — Pakistani foreign minister 


Reports of Pakistanis meeting Israeli officials ‘load of rubbish’ — Pakistani foreign minister 

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi speaks during a press conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Friday, December 18, 2020. (AN photo)
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Updated 18 December 2020
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Reports of Pakistanis meeting Israeli officials ‘load of rubbish’ — Pakistani foreign minister 

  • Shah Mahmood Qureshi is in the UAE to discuss bilateral cooperation and welfare of the Pakistani diaspora
  • Says hopeful for a “resolution soon” to a work visa “issue” with the UAE 
Updated 18 December 2020
ASMA ALI ZAIN

ABU DHABI: Pakistan’s stance on not recognizing Israel is unchanged, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in Abu Dhabi on Friday, adding that media reports that Pakistani officials had held secret meetings in Israel recently were “rubbish.”
The Israel Hayom and other Israeli media outlets reported this week in a veiled reference to Pakistan that a senior adviser to the leader of a large Muslim majority country in Asia that had no diplomatic ties with Israel had visited the Jewish state two weeks ago with a delegation of senior officials to discuss the potential normalization of relations. 
Pakistan currently does not recognize the state of Israel over its thwarting of Palestinians’ aspirations for a state of their own. Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the Sinai peninsula and the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future free state, a demand Pakistan has supported for decades. 
“Pakistan’s position vis-a-vis Israel has not changed,” Qureshi told reporters during a press conference in Abu Dhabi. The foreign minister is in the United Arab Emirates on a two-day visit. 
In response to a question about recent media reports of covert meetings of a Pakistani delegation with top Israeli officials, Qureshi said the reports were “a load of rubbish.”

“This issue keeps popping up ... We have already clarified this earlier and issued a statement on this that we have had no meetings with Israeli officials,” he said.
The foreign minister’s visit to the UAE comes at a time when international media has reported that the UAE had stopped issuing new visas to citizens of 13 mostly Muslim-majority countries, including Pakistan. 
“This issue came under discussion and I gave my point of view and understood their point of view,” Qureshi said. “I also discussed this with the foreign minister and also with the prime minister [of the UAE].” 
I am “hoping for a resolution soon,” the foreign minister added.


The UAE is home to 1.2 million Pakistanis and the second largest host to overseas Pakistani workers and source of foreign remittances, after Saudi Arabia.
The foreign minister also said he had just received intelligence information that India was planning surgical strikes against Pakistan.
“This is a serious development and I have also learnt that they have tried to seek tacit approval from who they consider to be their partners,” Qureshi said. 
Pakistan and India have long had tense relations and fought two wars over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, which they both rule in part but claim in full. 
On Thursday, Qureshi met Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates and discussed the “welfare” of Pakistanis living in the UAE and agreed to enhance trade and investment ties.
“Praising the hard work and dedication of Pakistani professionals and workers in the UAE, Foreign Minister Qureshi acknowledged their positive contribution toward progress and development of the UAE as well as Pakistan,” the foreign office said in a statement. “He discussed with his counterpart matters pertaining to Pakistani diaspora’s welfare and stressed the need to further strengthen people to people linkages between the two brotherly countries.”

Topics: Pakistan-UAE Israel Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi

UN agencies report spike in Afghan arrests as nearly two million return from Pakistan

Updated 8 sec ago
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UN agencies report spike in Afghan arrests as nearly two million return from Pakistan

  • UNHCR and IOM data show weekly spike in detentions, with Balochistan emerging as main hotspot
  • International rights groups say the deportation drive risks violating international protection obligations
Updated 8 sec ago
NAIMAT KHAN

ISLAMABAD: United Nations agencies for refugees and migration recorded a sharp rise in the arrest and detention of Afghan nationals in Pakistan since the beginning of the year, highlighting in a report this week that about two million Afghans have been repatriated to their country since late 2023.

According to a joint report released by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the scale of the movement has gone up significantly.

“During the reporting period (4 – 10 January), a total of 1,726 Afghan nationals were arrested and detained, marking an 18 percent increase compared to the previous week,” the report said. “Cumulatively, from 15 September 2023 to 10 January 2026, 1,957,694 individuals have returned.”

The mass migration and deportation drive began on November 1, 2023, after Pakistani authorities announced a repatriation plan for “illegal immigrants,” mostly Afghans. The decision followed a spike in suicide bombings, which the Pakistani government said were carried out by Afghan nationals or by militants launching cross-border attacks from neighboring Afghanistan.
Islamabad has also blamed illegal Afghan immigrants and refugees for involvement in smuggling and other crimes, though Afghanistan denies the allegations.

In 2025, Pakistan expanded the scope of its deportation drive, moving beyond undocumented foreign nationals to include holders of Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC). The campaign was later extended to bearers of Proof of Registration (PoR) cards after their validity expired in June.

While PoR cards were meant to recognize Afghan refugees under a formal registration framework, ACCs were merely introduced to document Afghan nationality without conferring refugee status on those in possession of them.
“Out of all arrests and detentions during the reporting period ... ACC holders and undocumented Afghans represented 87 percent of the total rate of arrest and detentions, and PoR holders represented 13 percent,” the report said.

In addition to the arrests, the reporting period saw a marked increase in activity at the border. Between January 4 and January 10, 2026, alone, an estimated 19,666 Afghans returned through various crossing points including Torkham and Chaman, representing a 38 percent increase in returns and a 17 percent increase in deportations compared to the week prior.

The UN report noted that “fear of arrest remained the main reason for return among undocumented individuals and ACC holders (95 percent)” while PoR card holders cited “strict border entry requirements” as their primary driver for leaving.
Geographically, 73 percent of recent arrests occurred in Balochistan, with the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) also being a focal point with 16 percent of the total arrests following government directives for Afghans to relocate from the capital.

Earlier in January, Amnesty International renewed pressure on Islamabad, urging it to stop deportations.

“Amnesty International calls on the Pakistani authorities to halt the deportation of Afghan refugees and ensure that individuals with international protection needs are safeguarded as per international human rights law,” it said in an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Amnesty maintained Pakistan’s repatriation policy violated the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning refugees to countries where they could face persecution or serious harm, and described the campaign as potentially “one of the largest forcible returns of refugees in modern history.”
 

Topics: Pakistan Afghanistan Ties Afghans in Pakistan

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