Qureshi meets British Home Secretary

LONDON: Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi met with the United Kingdom (UK) Home Secretary Rt. Hon. Sajid Javid at his office in the House of Commons in London on Monday and discussed matters of bilateral interest and reviewed the ongoing security cooperation under the institutional framework of Enhanced Strategic Dialogue (ESD).

High Commissioner of Pakistan to UK, Mohammad Nafees Zakaria accompanied the foreign minister, a statement of the High Commission issued here said.

According to the statement, Pakistan and the UK reaffirmed their continuing collaboration between the law enforcement agencies of the two countries at the operational level and counter-terrorism  measures in accordance with the National Action Plan.

Qureshi thanked the UK Home Secretary for the technical assistance and the support that was being provided by the UK government.

They agreed to continue their governments’ joint efforts for developing the capacity building of public departments and information sharing as part of their commitment to achieve greater success in the the global fight against terrorism, organized crime and illegal migration.

Both the sides reiterated their resolve to curb money laundering practices and to build  upon the Justice and accountability partnership arrangement between the two countries.

Javid expressed the UK government’s desire to be seen as a partner of Pakistan in their joint efforts in anti-money laundering and to tackle organized crime.

Both the ministers on the occasion underscored the importance of working together  for the repatriation of stolen financial assets abroad and to intensify domestic  efforts for return of this wealth in accordance with international legal instruments and conventions against corruption.

Qureshi and Javid also expressed firm commitment to inhibit elements who are involved in carrying out malicious campaigns against Pakistan on UK soil to sow the seeds of discord.  Matters relating to immigration and visas were also discussed during the meeting.

Foreign Minister Qureshi also apprised the Home Secretary about the liberalization of  Pakistan’s visa regime that was being done to facilitate British nationals particularly  business persons and tourists.

The foreign minister underscored the need for a dialogue on legal migration which  would be in line with the emerging requirement of human resource. Pakistan is rich in human capital, he said.