Daily Times

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Saturday said that having enhanced its capacity to repatriate up to 7,000 stranded Pakistanis per week, the government is striving to ensure the return of maximum number of people before Eid-ul-Fitr.

Addressing the Pakistani community in the United States though video link, the foreign minister said besides PIA, the government has also approached Qatar Airlines for repatriation of Pakistanis desiring to return to their homeland.

The session was also attended by Secretary Foreign Affairs Sohail Mahmood and Pakistan’s Ambassador in US Asad Majeed through video link besides a huge number of Pakistani expatriates.

He said one the challenges faced by Pakistan in the prevailing situation is the repatriation of stranded Pakistanis. Though around 10,000 have already been brought back, thousands more are yet in the waiting, he said, adding that owing to the limited capacity for quarantine and testing, the government could repatriate only 2,000 stranded Pakistanis per week.

He said in order to apprise the expatriates about the government’s efforts to contain coronavirus, a series of town hall virtual meetings have been initiated by the foreign ministry. He said the considering the volume of the losses faced by the great economies like the US, one can assess its impact on the developing country like Pakistan.

The foreign minister said the nation is proud of the remarkable contribution by the Pakistani American doctors and nurses to save the human lives from the deadly virus. He said the country’s economy is under pressure but the government is struggling to stabilize it with cooperation of the world community. Even, a huge number of Pakistani workers are feared to lose their jobs due to collapse of oil prices following the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, he said.

The foreign minister highlighted the government’s relief measures for the poor people, particularly Rs 144 billion emergency cash package, to support 12 million families. He thanked the Pakistani community for supporting their homeland in any distressing moment and urged the members to extend all-out assistance to the Pakistani students and other community members residing in the US.

Meanwhile, another flight of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Saturday landed at the Karachi International airport with 250 stranded Pakistanis from Abu Dhabi.

The national flag carrier is continuing its operations to bring back stranded Pakistanis across the globe and so far 11,700 have been airlifted from various countries.

Upon landing at the airport, the flight was disinfected and the passengers went through a screening process and later shifted to the quarantine facility.

Separately, PIA chief Arshad Malik has requested US Ambassador Paul Jones for help in repatriating citizens stuck in the United States. “We want to bring back Pakistanis stranded in the United States due to the coronavirus pandemic,” Malik said in a letter to the US ambassador. “Because of the pandemic, flights have been cancelled and we will like the American Embassy to help us out in this regard. The American Embassy can contact the relevant departments and help us in repatriating our citizens,” the letter read. Pakistan has been gradually evacuating its nationals from different countries after flight operations were halted due to the coronavirus outbreak.