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DUBAI: Foreign Minister of United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan has clarified that the decision to suspend the issuance of visas to Pakistani citizens was taken due to COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions were ‘temporary’.
The statement was issued after Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi paid a two-day official visit to the UAE during which he held meetings with the top Emirati leadership.
The United Arab Emirates had last month temporarily stopped issuing new visas to citizens of Pakistan and at least 11 other mostly Muslim majority countries.
In a statement, UAE Foreign Minister affirmed the depth of the bilateral relations between the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan. He stressed the temporary nature of the recent restrictions imposed on the issuance of visas due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The mutual interests and visions of the two countries converged on issues of regional and international importance through the principles of tolerance, inclusiveness and an agenda based on development to ensure peace and stability in the region,” he said.
Qureshi had met Nahyan on Thursday. He had apprised his counterpart of the difficulties being faced by the Pakistani community in the UAE, but no discussion about the visa issue was made public at the time.
