Christian Turner meets Interior Minister

Islamabad: British High Commissioner to Pakistan Christian Turner called on Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Wednesday and discussed various important issues.

During the meeting, the Interior Minister expressed grief on the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and offered his condolences to the royal family.

The meeting between the two also reviewed the progress on extradition agreements and the issue of red listing of passengers traveling from Pakistan to the UK due to coronavirus.

During the meeting, they agreed to complete the extradition and repatriation agreements as soon as possible, saying that these agreements were in the mutual interest of both the countries and progress needed to be accelerated.

The British Ambassador said that Pakistan’s performance in terms of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) roadmap was commendable and that the UK would fully support Pakistan on the issue.

Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that Pakistan has an age old relationship with the United Kingdom which it values very highly, but it was concerned about being put on the UK’s red list. This has caused anxiety among Pakistanis living in the UK and with the virus spreading faster in neighboring countries, this treatment of Pakistan is discriminatory.

British Ambassador Christian Turner clarified that the issue of putting Pakistan on the red list is not a matter of discrimination, but of circumstance. The number of passengers going from Pakistan to UK is the highest, he added.

He said the positivity rate among passengers traveling from Pakistan to the UK was also alarmingly high. Therefore, in view of the situation, Pakistan was put on the red list.