LONDON: Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Friday called on British Interior Minister James Cleverly in London during his visit to United Kingdom.
In presence of both the interior minister, a Letter of Intent (LOI) was signed between the governments of UK and Pakistan regarding mutual legal assistance.
The accord will help in tackling crimes relating to illegal migration and organized immigration. It will also assist in investigating other heinous crimes including drug trafficking.
Law enforcement and criminal justice issues will be shared by Pakistan and the UK under this agreement.
Implementation will be made possible by a joint steering committee which will include representatives from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the National Police Bureau, the British High Commission and the programme team.
Advance planning for crime prevention of crime, sharing of international criminal conviction data and analytics will be facilitated.
Improving joint cooperation in combating illicit financial threats, bilateral assistance in tracking crimes at air and sea borders will be possible.
The ability to facilitate extradition requests from the UK to Pakistan and from Pakistan to the UK will be improved.
The LOI will also help to create awareness and understanding of the mutual legal assistance process in both countries.
Exchange of information under the memorandum, sharing of expertise, visits, staff training, Joint projects, conferences, workshops and provision of specialized equipment are included.
Progress towards achieving the goals will be determined through an annual review.
During the meeting between Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and the Interior Minister of Great Britain, cooperation was discussed to strengthen bilateral relations and solve problems jointly.
Talking on the occasion Mohsin Naqvi said that UK is a long-standing partner of Pakistan.
He said Pakistan and UK government and public relations are at an unprecedented level.
Britain attaches great importance to relations with Pakistan, said British Interior Minister.
He said we appreciate Pakistan’s cooperation in the evacuation of British citizens from Afghanistan.
British Interior Minister further said that the contribution of Pakistanis living in the UK in cultural, social and economic fields is very important.
The British Interior Minister also appreciated the performance and services of Mohsin Naqvi as caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab.
Pakistan High Commissioner to UK Dr. Muhammad Faisal, British High Commissioner in Pakistan Jane Marriott and senior officials of the British Interior Ministry were also present on the occasion.
