Federal Minister for Interior Brig (R) Ijaz Ahmad Shah met with H.E Ambassador Alice Wells, the acting Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of South and Central Asia Affairs along with H.E Ambassador Paul Jones and delegation at the Ministry of Interior, Islamabad on 20th January 2020.
While addressing the issue of illegal immigrants, the Federal Minister of Interior, Brig (R) Ijaz Ahmad Shah said that the government had successfully managed to streamline the process to curb this menace. He further added that there has been satisfactory progress in this regard, Interior Ministry's delegation informed that the solved cases for the months of November, December and January had been delivered to the US correspondents.
The Acting US Secretary of State, Alice Wells, said that to ensure smooth functioning of the matters, there should be a sustainable method derived that can work in longer run. Brig (R) Ijaz Ahmad Shah welcomed the suggestion and agreed on mutual cooperation in this regard.
In order to facilitate the cooperation, the verification process of traveling documents including passports has been streamlined. This has greatly helped in expediting the processes. Alice Wells appreciated the efforts being put in by the Government of Pakistan.
While discussing the point pertaining to INGOs, the Minister of Interior said that a proper systematic way has been formulated to register these organizations. The ones who fail to fulfill the criteria are given a second chance to explain their stance, however, the ones who meet the set standards are fully facilitated.
The delegation of Ministry of Interior explained in detail the progress made on FATF matters assigned to Interior Ministry. Additional Secretary said that there has been significant progress on both legislative and administrative matters. He further added that execution process has also been completed to a greater extent. The Minister for Interior said that these regulations have proved to be very helpful in our progress. The US Delegation applauded the progress made by the Government of Pakistan despite the scarcity of resources. The meeting concluded with a promise to enhance ties in future ventures.
