ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Thursday announced to withdraw the no objection certificate (NOC) for foreign tourists in Gilgit-Baltistan.
In a Press Conference in Islamabad, the minister said that since one and a half year, it had been made conditional to have a NOC to visit the Gilgit-Baltistan region. However, he added that now it was decided that in order to promote tourism in the region, NOC would no longer be required by foreigners for visiting Gilgit-Baltistan.
The minister said that a notification with regard to the decision would be issued soon.
Talking about the National Identity Cards (NICs), the minister said that NICs of several Pakistani had also been blocked. He said that 375,000 NICs had been blocked in three months.
The interior minister said that those NICs would be restored permanently after documents were submitted. He said that 3,500 people returned their NICs voluntarily.
Chaudhry Nisar also said that that 33,000 Passports were cancelled while not a single appeal was filed against any cancellation.
Moreover, the minister said that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and those working on the project would be bound to obtain the NOC.
The minister further said that the issue of substandard food would be handled by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). He said that there was an industry of illegal organ transplant which could not be tolerated.
