ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Sunday that its consulate in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad would resume visa operations from October 8 (today) after nearly five weeks of suspension over security concerns and the alleged interference by Afghan officials.
Pakistan had accused Nangarhar Governor Hayatullah Hayat of resorting to “undue intervention” in the affairs of its diplomatic mission, the charges Afghan officials had denied.
“Pakistan’s Consulate General in Jalalabad, which was closed on August 30, 2018, will resume visa operations after assurances by the Afghan government that all necessary and required security would be provided to the Consulate General as per the obligation of the Afghan government under Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963,” Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said.
“All visa applicants in Jalalabad and surrounding areas within the jurisdiction of the Consulate General could now apply for visa with effect from 8th October 2018,” Faisal said on Twitter.
The Pakistan Embassy in Kabul had alleged that the Nangarhar governor “interfered in the affairs of the Jalalabad consulate, which was a complete violation of the Vienna Convention of the Consular Relations 1963.”
However, Governor Hayat had denied interference in the affairs of the Pakistani consulate, but said he was “unhappy at the working of the consulate as money was being demanded for issuance of visas”. “A Pakistani visa was being sold at 5,000 to 20,000 rupees,” according to BBC Pashto radio.
A Pakistani Embassy official had dismissed the allegations as “false and malicious” and accused Governor Hayat of introducing a token system for Pakistani visa seekers to “earn money”.
“How can an Afghan governor introduce his own system and remove our security system outside the consulate,” the Pakistani official questioned, adding that the governor wanted to introduce of a system of nepotism in the token system.
Governor Hayat told reporters that Afghan government had the right to “manage thousands of visa seekers and ensure their security”.
Thousands of people daily gather outside the Pakistani consulate to get Pakistani visas, as many Afghans want to enter Pakistan for education, treatment, business and interaction with relatives.
Pakistani diplomatic missions in Afghanistan had been facing a big challenge to deal with thousands of visa seekers after Pakistan declared passport and visa obligatory for every Afghan entering Pakistan via the Torkham crossing in June 2016.
The Pakistan Embassy in Kabul and consulate in Jalalabad issue nearly 4,000 visas to Afghans daily, according to Pakistani officials.
Nangarhar Governor’s spokesman Attaullah Khogyani said Pakistan should issue at least 1,800 visas to Afghans on a daily basis in accordance with an agreement with Afghan officials.
Khogyani told Pajhwok Afghan News that Pakistan visa applications in Jalalabad would be managed and processed by Afghan officials following a newly developed plan between Pakistan and the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Pakistani officials were also concerned over Governor Hayat’s plan to allocate a house for the stay of the visa seekers next to the consulate building that could pose a threat to the consulate and its staffers.
In November last year, gunmen shot dead Nayyar Iqbal Rana, assistant private secretary at the Pakistani consulate in Jalalabad, outside his residence.
In June 2017, two officials of the Jalalabad consulate were kidnapped. At least seven people were killed in a Daesh attack on the Pakistani consulate in 2016.
The residents in Jalalabad welcomed the decision and said it would help solve problems of many people.
Published in Daily Times, October 8th 2018.