ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday asked to improve services at airports across Pakistan to facilitate passengers, tourists, and overseas Pakistanis, Sharif’s office said, amid the country’s efforts to boost tourism.
The prime minister gave the directives while presiding over a meeting with regard to the introduction of reforms in the country’s aviation sector, according to a statement issued by Sharif’s office.
In order to promote tourism, Sharif directed authorities to ensure the provision of best facilities for passengers at the Skardu International airport, days after the South Asian country relaxed its visa policy.
“The prime minister ordered to operate more counters in order to save passengers of international flights from waiting for long,” Sharif’s office said. “He further instructed to devise a comprehensive framework related to the extension of Skardu International and Gilgit airports.”
The two airports are located in Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region, which is home to scenic valleys and five of the world’s 14 mountains above 8,000 meters, including K2. More than 8,900 foreigners visited the remote Gilgit-Baltistan region in 2023, according to official figures from the government, where the summer climbing season runs from early June to late August.
The South Asian country has other major tourist attractions in several other cities and towns across its length and breadth.
During the meeting, officials briefed Sharif that the airport management authority and the civil aviation authority had been separated to ensure “efficient performance” of duties of operator and regulator under the aviation act.
The number of counters had been increased at the Lahore airport and an existing waiting room had also been expanded for the convenience of passengers, according to officials. Work on feasibility report for the expansion of Skardu airport was due to start soon.
The prime minister expressed his satisfaction over the measures and said additional facilities would also be available to passengers.
Pakistan this month increased the number of countries exempt from visa fees to 126, while it announced on-arrival visas from businessmen from the Gulf nations, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said on August 13 that 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.
The new visa policy also included religious tourism due to which Sikh pilgrims could easily visit the South Asian country for their religious festivals, according to the minister.
Pakistan PM calls for enhanced airport services amid push to boost tourism
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Pakistan PM calls for enhanced airport services amid push to boost tourism
- Pakistan is home to several tourist destinations across its length and breadth as well as five of the world’s 14 tallest mountain peaks
- Islamabad recently increased the number of countries exempt from visa fees to 126, announced on-arrival visas for the Gulf residents
Pakistan, seven Muslim countries condemn new Israeli measures aimed at annexing West Bank
- Israel approves steps to make it easier for settlers to buy land in West Bank, grant Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians
- Foreign ministries of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar issue joint condemnation
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and seven Arab and Muslim states on Monday jointly condemned recent Israeli decisions to impose new legal and administrative measures in the occupied West Bank, saying they amount to an attempt to enforce unlawful sovereignty and accelerate annexation of Palestinian territory.
The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).
Israel’s security cabinet approved a series of steps on Sunday that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians. The measures reportedly include scrapping decades-old regulations that prevent Jewish private citizens buying land in the West Bank. They are also reported to include allowing Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites, and expand supervision and enforcement in areas under PA administration in matters of environmental hazards, water offenses and damage to archaeological sites.
In a joint statement issued in Islamabad, the foreign ministries of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar said Israel had no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory and accused it of pursuing measures aimed at entrenching settlement activity and imposing a new legal and administrative reality on the ground.
“The foreign ministers condemned in the strongest terms the illegal Israeli decisions and measures aimed at imposing unlawful Israeli sovereignty, entrenching settlement activity, and enforcing a new legal and administrative reality in the occupied West Bank,” the statement said, adding that such actions were accelerating attempts at “illegal annexation and the displacement of the Palestinian people.”
The ministers warned that continued Israeli expansionist policies and “illegal measures” in the West Bank were fueling violence and instability across the region.
They said the actions constituted “a blatant violation of international law,” undermined the two-state solution and infringed on the Palestinian people’s right to establish an independent and sovereign state along the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The statement said these measures were “null and void” and in clear violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which condemns Israeli actions aimed at altering the demographic and legal status of territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem.
Calling on the international community to act, the foreign ministers urged states to fulfill their “legal and moral responsibilities” and to compel Israel to halt what they described as dangerous escalation in the West Bank and inflammatory statements by Israeli officials.
They reiterated that fulfilling the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and statehood through a two-state solution, in line with international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, remained “the only path” to achieving lasting peace, security and stability in the region.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition includes many pro-settler members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.
The United Nations’ highest court said in a non-binding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there is illegal and should be ended as soon as possible. Israel disputes this view.
