ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Ataullah Tarar on Tuesday announced that Pakistan’s new policy that exempts 126 countries from visa fees and grants on-arrival visas for Gulf country residents will take effect midnight on August 14, making it easier for tourists and businessmen to visit the South Asian nation.
Pakistan, which has been facing a prolonged economic crisis that has forced it to seek financial assistance from friendly nations and global lenders like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has increasingly sought to introduce policies for the ease of doing business for foreign investors.
The South Asian country last month announced it had made changes to its visa policy by increasing the number of countries exempt from visa fees to 126. The decision came in the wake of Pakistan’s efforts to forge deeper economic and trade ties with regional allies to stabilize a fragile economy.
“Pakistan’s visa policy will be changing tonight at midnight. The visa fees of 126 countries have been abolished and the visa process has become easier,” Tarar said at a press conference on Tuesday. “Gulf country residents can avail a visa on arrival.”
The Gulf countries include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Explaining the process in detail, the information minister said people visiting from any of the 126 countries will merely have to fill out a one-page form consisting of 30 questions within a ten-minute process.
Visa would be issued directly on the phone through which the form was filled and would be valid for three months apart from also being renewable, he added.
Tarar said the new visa policy also included religious tourism due to which Sikh pilgrims could easily visit the South Asian country for their religious festivals.
In a cabinet meeting in last month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had pointed out that the new visa policy would lead to a loss of a “few million dollars,” but it would be instrumental in promoting investment in the country.
Sharif had noted that the policy would lead to a significant increase in large-scale economic activities in Pakistan and further boost the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
Pakistan announces visa policy exempting fees for 126 countries, offering on-arrival permits
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Pakistan announces visa policy exempting fees for 126 countries, offering on-arrival permits
- Pakistan last month exempted 126 countries from visa fees, announced on-arrival visa service for Gulf residents
- Minister says a three-month visa will be directly issued by phone after filling out form comprising 30 questions
Pakistan remembers Benazir Bhutto, first woman PM in Muslim world, on death anniversary
- Bhutto was daughter of ex-PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who was hanged during reign of former military ruler Gen. Zia-ul-Haq
- Year before assassination in 2007, Bhutto signed landmark deal with rival Nawaz Sharif to prevent army interventions
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other Pakistani leaders on Saturday paid tribute to Benazir Bhutto, the first woman prime minister in the Muslim world who was assassinated 18 years ago in a gun and bomb attack after a rally in the city of Rawalpindi.
Born on Jun. 21, 1953, Bhutto was elected premier for the first time in 1988 at the age of 35. She was deposed in 1990, re-elected in 1993, and ousted again in 1996, amid allegations of corruption and mismanagement which she denied as being politically motivated.
Bhutto only entered politics after her father was hanged in 1979 during military ruler Gen. Zia-ul-Haq’s reign. Throughout her political career, she had a complex and often adversarial relationship with the now ruling Sharif family, but despite the differences signed a ‘Charter of Democracy’ in 2006 with three-time former PM Nawaz Sharif, pledging to strengthen democratic institutions and prevent military interventions in Pakistan in the future.
She was assassinated a year and a half later.
“Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto took exemplary steps to strengthen the role of women, protect the rights of minorities, and make Pakistan a peaceful, progressive, and democratic state,” PM Shehbaz Sharif, younger brother of ex-PM Nawaz Sharif, said in a statement on Saturday.
“Her sacrifices and services are a beacon of light for the nation.”
President Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto’s widower, said Bhutto believed in an inclusive Pakistan, rejected sectarianism, bigotry and intolerance, and consistently spoke for the protection of minorities.
“Her vision was of a federation where citizens of all faiths could live with dignity and equal rights,” he said. “For the youth of Pakistan, her life offers a clear lesson: speak up for justice, organize peacefully and do not surrender hope in the face of adversity.”
Powerful families like the Bhuttos and the Sharifs of Pakistan to the Gandhis of India and the Bandaranaike family of Sri Lanka have long dominated politics in this diverse region since independence from British colonial rule. But none have escaped tragedy at the hands of rebels, militants or ambitious military leaders.
It was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Bhutto’s father, who founded the troubled Bhutto dynasty, becoming the country’s first popularly elected prime minister before being toppled by the army in 1977 and later hanged. Both his sons died in mysterious circumstances.
Before her assassination on Dec. 27, 2007, Bhutto survived another suicide attack on her motorcade that killed nearly 150 people as she returned to Pakistan after eight years in exile in October 2007.
Bhutto’s Oxford-educated son, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, now leads her Pakistan Peoples Party, founded by her father, and was foreign minister in the last administration of PM Shehbaz Sharif.
Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, Bhutto’s daughter who is currently the first lady of Pakistan, said her mother lived with courage and led with compassion in life.
“Her strength lives on in every voice that refuses injustice,” she said on X.
Pakistan has been ruled by military regimes for almost half its history since independence from Britain in 1947. Both former premiers Imran Khan and the elder Sharif, Nawaz, have alleged that they were ousted by the military after they fell out with the generals. The army says it does not interfere in politics.
