ISLAMABAD:Pakistan is planning to ease visa restrictions for visitors from 55 countries,including most European nations, in a bid to revive tourism that was devastatedby Islamist violence in the fallout from the 9/11 attacks in the United States."We are reviewing our visa policies. We are trying to bring 55 countriesinto a visa-free region, which includes most of the European countries,"Pakistan's information minister, Fawad Chaudhry, told Reuters. That comes afterPortugal this month declared Pakistan safe for travel, while France has alsorelaxed its advisory on travel to the South Asian nation "I'm happy our(travel) advisories are changing," said Chaudhry.
Potentiallyrestarting tourism has been one of the most talked about parts of new PrimeMinister Imran Khan's push to create an Islamic welfare state in Pakistan, butvisitors to the country often complain of an arduous visa process. Former RealMadrid soccer stars Kaka of Brazil and Portuguese playmaker Luis Figo wererecently denied visas to the country for a promotional visit, Chaudhry said,highlighting the nation's laborious visa process. "We refused a visa toKaka and Figo. Can you believe that? I called the section officer and he neverheard of ... Kaka," Chaudhry said, laughing. "I spoke to the interiorsecretary yesterday and gave him a piece of my mind."
Pakistan was lasta prominent tourist destination in the 1970s when the "hippie trail"brought Western travellers through the apricot and walnut orchards of the SwatValley and Kashmir on their way to India and Nepal.Since then, a deterioratingsecurity situation and the imposition of a harsh interpretation of Islamic lawshas chipped away at the number of visitors.
FollowingPakistan's participation in the US-led war in Afghanistan after the Sept 11,2001 attacks in New York and Washington, the country was rocked by a decade ofregular large-scale militant attacks. Security has since improved dramatically,with militant attacks down sharply in the mainly Muslim country of 208 millionpeople. British Airways on Tuesday announced it would resume flights toPakistan next year after a 10-year absence that followed a major hotel bombing,becoming the first Western airline to restart such flights. - Reuters