LONDON, May 31 (APP): Pakistan and the United Kingdom on Friday signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to promote bilateral collaboration on law enforcement and criminal justice issues.
Federal Minister for Interior Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi and Home Secretary of UK James Cleverly witnessed the signing of the LOI held at the UK Home Office.
Pakistan’s High Commissioner to UK Dr Muhammad Faisal signed the LOI on behalf of the Government of Pakistan, according to a press release.
The LOI is aimed at collaboration between Pakistan and the UK to work together on law enforcement cooperation and criminal justice issues.
It specifically addresses the issues to tackle illegal migration and organised immigration crime and to exploring future opportunities that benefit both countries.
It will also facilitate liaison between UK and Pakistan law enforcement agencies, in support of joint efforts to tackle transnational crime, including narcotics control, investigations of serious criminality and organised immigration crime.
Under the implementation mechanism, the cooperation will be overseen by a joint steering committee, chaired by the Ministry of Interior (MOI) and comprising representatives of interior ministry, National Police Bureau, British High Commission (supported by the UK Home Office), the programme team and other relevant agencies.
This agreement will help establish cooperation in the ability to share international criminal conviction data and analytics to prepare pre-emptive plans for crime prevention. Improving joint collaboration to tackle illicit finance threats, detecting criminality at air and sea borders, improving ability to facilitate extradition requests from the UK to Pakistan and Pakistan to the UK are also part of the LOI.
The LOI will also help in creating awareness and understanding of the mutual legal assistance process in both countries.
An important feature of the LOI is capacity building that encompasses exchange of information and knowledge; exchange of experts; field trips; training of staff; joint projects; conferences, workshops and provision of specific equipment.
Progress on achievements under the LOI would be undertaken through yearly review.
Earlier, during their meeting, Minister for Interior Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi and Home Secretary of UK James Cleverly discussed measures to further strengthen Pakistan-UK bilateral relations and collaborations to resolve issues jointly.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that UK was a long-term partner of Pakistan and that government-to-government and people-to-people contacts between Pakistan and UK were at unprecedented levels.
Home Secretary Cleverly said that UK highly valued relations with Pakistan and appreciated Pakistan’s support and cooperation in evacuating British citizens from Afghanistan.
James Cleverly said that contribution of Pakistani diaspora in the UK was extremely significant in the areas of cultural, social and economic domains.
He lauded Mohsin Naqvi’s dedication to public service during his stint as Caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab.
High Commissioner of Pakistan to UK, Dr. Mohammad Faisal, UK’s High Commissioner to Pakistan Jane Marriott and senior officials were present during the meeting.