Pakistan announces visa relaxation for international journalists stranded in Afghanistan

Journalists reports at the site of a bomb blast in Kabul, Afghanistan, on February 2, 2021. (AFP/File)

• The country's interior minister says his government will issue visas to foreign media workers in the war-battered country 'on a priority basis'
• Pakistan's national security advisor also urged Afghan factions to expedite the peace process to reach a negotiated settlement

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed announced on Friday his country had decided to relax its visa policy for international journalists and media workers stranded in Afghanistan to help them exit the war-battered country amid a deteriorating security situation.
"International journalists and media workers who intend to leave Afghanistan via Pakistan are urged to apply for a Pakistani visa," said a statement issued by his office. "The Interior Ministry will issue visas to these international journalists and workers on a priority basis."
The ministry added the announcement of visa relaxation by the Pakistani government was made in view of the safety of journalists working in Afghanistan.
Pakistan's neighboring state in the northwest has witnessed significant escalation in insurgent violence since the United States announced to pull out its troops earlier this year.
The Taliban launched a military campaign against the administration in Kabul, capturing several key districts and border crossings in Afghanistan.
According to some intelligence assessments, the insurgent faction could seize Afghanistan's capital within a matter of months.
The Afghan authorities have accused Pakistan of supporting the Taliban, though Pakistani officials deny the allegation and say they are interested in a politically negotiated settlement in the neighboring state.
Pakistan's national security advisor Moeed Yusuf emphasized the need to expedite the peace process in Afghanistan during a media interaction in Islamabad on Friday.
"Trust me, if they sit down, they will be able to come out with some sort of settlement and we will respect whatever Afghans decide," he was quoted by the Associated Press.
"History will judge us very badly and poorly if we don't put all efforts behind (this) for a political settlement" on the Afghan crisis, he added.
Yusuf also defended his country's position, saying it was beyond Pakistan's capacity to become a "guarantor for peace" in Afghanistan.
"Everybody needs to respect what Afghans decide politically," he said.