All foreign nationals will be registered: Sheikh Rashid

Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid said on Thursday that the government has decided to register all foreign nationals arriving in the country and will allow them to open bank accounts through a special card.

The interior minister, during his visit to the National Forensic Science Agency in Islamabad, said a new 'alien card' will be issued to foreign nationals and they will be able to use the card for opening local bank accounts.

He said there is no record of thousands of foreigners, who entered the country during the last seventy years.

Rashid said the Torkham border will be reopened for the purpose of vaccinations. "We will soon formalize a plan to rescue 4,000 to 5,000 people stranded at the Torkham border," he added. The minister observed that Afghanistan's Covid-19 situation was quite severe.

Speaking in regards to drug smuggling, Rashid said the government is about to take a major step to stop the smuggling of illicit drugs in the country. "Drugs are not smuggled from Pakistan internationally, but from foreign countries to Pakistan."