The Pakistani foreign minister has raised the issue of visa restrictions to Pakistani citizens imposed by the United Arab Emirates in meetings with top Emirates officials over a three-day tour of the country, the Pakistani foreign ministry says.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday concluded his three-day visit to the United Arab Emirates, a key Pakistani ally, after meeting with Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
“[Qureshi] stressed the need to promote and strengthen people-to-people liaison, as well as remove the obstacle that hinders travel between the two countries,” a State Department statement said Tuesday.
The UAE is home to an estimated 1.6 million Pakistanis and is a major source of foreign money for the Pakistani economy.
Since November, the UAE has imposed a work visa ban on citizens from 13 mostly Muslim countries, including Pakistan.
Qureshi also raised the issue in an earlier meeting with Sheikh Nahyan Mabarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, the Foreign Ministry said.
“The Foreign Minister thanked the UAE’s leadership for their considerate approach to expatriates and briefed Sheikh Nahyan on the issues facing the Pakistani community, in particular the restrictions on visa-related matters,” the statement said.
The issue was also discussed in Qureshi’s meeting with United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Ahmed bin Ali Al Sayegh, according to a Pakistani statement.
In the statements issued by the UAE government, the issue of visa restrictions is not mentioned.
On Sunday, United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Al Nahyan met his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Abu Dhabi, who speculated that Pakistani and Indian foreign ministers could hold a direct meeting.
This month, a senior UAE diplomat confirmed that his country was helping mediate between the South Asian neighbours, whose diplomatic ties have been virtually frozen since a 2019 military stance on the disputed region of Kashmir.
However, Qureshi rejected reports of a possible meeting between the two top diplomats in an interview with the Khaleej Times newspaper in the Gulf.