Pakistan suspends visa abolition agreement with Kuwait

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has suspended a standing visa abolition agreement with Kuwait, according to a spokesman of the interior ministry who released a statement on Friday.

He pronounced the decision was taken by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in the backdrop of difficulties faced by the Pakistani government officials and diplomats during their travel to Kuwait.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that despite the pact with Kuwait, government officials holding blue and diplomatic passports were still required to obtain a visa for travel to Kuwait, which was against the spirit of the arrangement.

The Minister said visa regimes and agreements were meant to ease the travel of government officials but the agreement was not reciprocated or mutually beneficial.

The accord was signed between the two countries in November 2013 for waiver of visa requirements for holders of diplomatic, special and official recommendations.