ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi arrived in Muscat on a day-long visit on Sunday, the interior ministry said, to meet high-level Omani officials and discuss the regional situation amid Islamabad’s spike in tensions with New Delhi.
In an earlier statement, the interior ministry said Naqvi would depart for a visit to Gulf countries today in light of the regional situation. However, it did not mention which Gulf countries other than Oman he would visit.
Naqvi’s visit takes place as fears of a military confrontation between India and Pakistan loom large after New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing the perpetrators of an Apr. 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 tourists. Pakistan denies involvement and has called for an international probe into the incident.
“Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has arrived in Muscat on a one-day official visit to Oman,” the interior ministry said in a statement.
It said Naqvi was received at the airport by Oman’s Interior Secretary Sayyid Khalid bin Hilal bin Saud Al Busaidi and Pakistan’s Ambassador to Oman Syed Naveed Safdar Bokhari and other dignitaries.
“We want to enhance cooperation with Oman in combating drug trafficking and human smuggling,” Naqvi was quoted as saying by his ministry.
The statement said Naqvi will meet senior Omani officials to present Pakistan’s stance on the evolving regional situation following Islamabad’s surging tensions with New Delhi.
Pakistan has increasingly engaged countries such as the US, China, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, South Korea and other nations in recent days to present its point of view regarding its tensions with India.
The border forces of both countries have traded fire for 10 consecutive days along the Line of Control frontier in Kashmir, which acts as a de facto border between India and Pakistan, international media reports say.
Both countries have also traded diplomatic barbs, expelled each other’s nationals and closed a key lander border route.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week gave the Indian military “operational freedom” to respond to the Kashmir attack. Pakistan has since then conducted war exercises and vowed that any military action from India would invite a “strong” response.
Both nuclear-armed nations have fought two out of three wars since 1947 over the disputed Kashmir territory. India and Pakistan claim the entire region but administer only parts of it
