ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United Kingdom have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to improve coordination between their law enforcement agencies in fighting illegal migration and drugs, state-run broadcaster Radio Pakistan said on Friday.
The South Asian nation’s security czar Mohsin Naqvi is currently on an official visit to the United Kingdom.
“The LoI was signed in the presence of Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and British Home Secretary James Cleverly in London,” Radio Pakistan said on Friday. “The initiative will help combat illegal migration in addition to fostering cooperation in drug prevention and crime investigations on serious matters.”
The initiative will also help improve cooperation in combating illicit financial threats and tracking crimes along air and sea borders.
The report said it would be the responsibility of a Joint Steering Committee to implement the LoI. The body will include representatives from the Ministry of Interior, National Police Bureau and the British High Commission.
The interior minister will also visit Italy and Vatican City early next month.
The UK signed a major deal with Pakistan in 2022 under which foreign criminals and immigration offenders from the UK can be returned to Pakistan.
Under the new plan, Pakistani nationals with no legal right to remain in the UK, including criminals, failed asylum seekers and immigration offenders, can be removed.
Pakistan nationals make up the seventh largest number of foreign criminals in prisons in England and Wales, totaling nearly 3 percent of the foreign national offender population.
