Pakistan welcomes US easing travel advisory

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AA) - Pakistan on Friday welcomed the U.S. step to ease its travel advisory for the country, the Foreign Ministry said.

In a statement, the ministry said it is a step in the right direction and termed it “acknowledgement of improved security environment” in Pakistan.

"Pakistan has made resolute efforts to enhance security throughout the country. Significant improvement in the security environment has led the United Nations to redesignate Islamabad as a family station for its personnel," the Ministry said.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of State said that security environment in Pakistan improved since 2014, after Pakistani security forces undertook concerted counter-terrorist and counter-militant operations.

However, the U.S. government advised its citizen not to travel to southwestern Balochistan and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, including former tribal areas of Pakistan, due to risk of terror attacks and kidnapping.

Earlier, the U.K. also revised its travel advisory for Britons to visit northern areas of Pakistan.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the Portugal and Norway also updated their travel advisories for Pakistan which reflect the confidence of these European governments in Pakistan’s security environment

Recently, Pakistan was declared as one of the “Best Holiday Destinations for 2020” by a U.S. travel magazine Conde Nast Traveler, the ministry said.

"With Pakistan’s liberal visa regime and conducive environment for tourism, we are confident that larger number of tourists from all over the world would be traveling to Pakistan. People of Pakistan are ready to welcome foreign tourists in the country," the statement added.