ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Monday said that Pakistan has stopped on-arrival visas facility for Afghanistan as an online visa service had been started for Afghanistan to address all such issues and making this process more transparent and smooth.

He added the government had decided to waive off the visa fee. Addressing a press conference here, he acknowledged that the inflation was going up in the country but said that not a single government in the world wants inflation.

"Inflation is increasing. There's no doubt in that. I'm not one of those ministers who would give false hopes," Rashid said, "but you have to see the bright side of things too. Under the leadership of PM Imran Khan, we have prevented sanctions and defaults."

Sheikh Rashid said that Prime Minister Imran Khan was seriously concerned about the rising inflation and has called an emergency meeting on the subject. Talking about the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), he said that the opposition alliance has no value.

The PDM used to say that the government will be sent packing by December 2020 but now December of 2021 is approaching and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is still in government. He said that the present opposition had no vision to understand the prevailing regional situation and they had selected the wrong time for holding rallies and protests.

He said that the present government would complete its five-year term. He also expressed his confidence that the PTI government would also return for the next tenure in the next general elections. He criticised the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president, Maryam Nawaz, for targeting state institutions.

"Maryam Nawaz is digging her own grave by making inappropriate comments about institutions," the minister said. He also warned that targeting state institutions on the streets would have a long-lasting impact.

Targeting the opposition alliance, PDM, he said it is "a dead political elephant". The politics of "playing in ponds" is over, he opined. He also asked opposition leaders to focus instead on bigger politics.

During the press conference he also announced that Air Patrolling Unit in Islamabad will be launched, on Thursday. He said that the government has decided to build a mausoleum in Islamabad to honour the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, adding that the designs of the structure have been sent to the nuclear scientist's daughter. Once they are finalised, the construction will begin.

The Islamabad Capital Development Authority has been instructed to prepare a map for the mausoleum. It will build at the H-8 graveyard where Dr Khan was laid to rest. The "Mohsin-e-Pakistan" was given a state funeral on October 10.

His funeral prayers were offered at the Faisal Mosque. Dr AQ Khan was awarded the Hilal-i-Imtiaz and the Nishan-e-Imtiaz in 1989 and 1999 for his outstanding performance in the world of science and technology. The minister promised a 90-day amnesty for prisoners at jails across the country on the occasion of Eid Milad-un-Nabi (SAW).

A notification by the Interior Ministry has been sent to all the provincial secretaries. Apart from people jailed for crimes such as murder and terrorism, all other prisoners sentenced for life will be given amnesty, it stated.

Prisoners under the age of 18 years will be given the 90-day amnesty too. The minister said that in order to ensure fool proof security and controlling crime rate, 1,000 additional personnel were being inducted in Islamabad Police, while the government was going to launch its new air patrolling unit form next Friday.

He said that the government had started International Border Management System (IBMS) at the Torkham and Chaman borders, which was for the first time in the history of Pakistan, while further points will be added also. He added with this, the government will use modern technology to get exact data and for maintaining complete records of all entry and exit movements at the Pak-Afghan border.

He said that the borders of Torkham and Chaman had been placed on the biometric system now, while the remaining borders will also be added to the system. He said that the prime minister is likely to inaugurate a new 150-bed hospital in the federal capital, which will not only cater to the needs of the residents of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi but will also provide health facilities to the people of other areas.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021