Pakistan and Sri Lanka have agreed to establish a joint working group to strengthen cooperation between their interior ministries, with a focus on tackling illegal migration, forged travel documents and transnational crime, according to an official statement issued by Pakistan’s interior ministry on Wednesday.
Meeting in New York
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met his Sri Lankan counterpart, Ananda Wijepala, at the United Nations headquarters in New York, where the two officials discussed expanding cooperation on border security, policing, counter-narcotics and immigration. The meeting comes as Pakistan intensifies efforts to combat human smuggling and the use of forged travel documents following a series of deadly migrant boat disasters in recent years.
Key Agreements
“The ministers agreed to establish a joint working group to enhance cooperation between the two interior ministries,” the statement said. “It was agreed during the meeting to prioritize the resolution of visa-related issues.” “The two sides also decided to enhance cooperation to curb illegal migration and prevent travel using forged passports,” it added.
Naqvi and Wijepala also agreed to strengthen coordination in counter-narcotics efforts and expand cooperation in police training.
Pakistan's Crackdown on Human Smuggling
Pakistan has stepped up its crackdown on human smuggling after hundreds of its nationals died in migrant boat disasters in recent years. Authorities said this week the country arrested more than 1,700 human smugglers last year, contributing to a 47 percent decline in illegal migration to Europe, while also rolling out an artificial intelligence-based immigration screening system to detect forged travel documents and prevent illegal departures.
Additional Cooperation
The two ministers also discussed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation to combat criminal networks and money laundering.
