—Special Ministerial Committee gives final approval
—Decides to share final draft with UK government
By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the special ministerial committee to discuss the extradition treaty between Pakistan and the United Kingdom (UK) was held with Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed in the chair.
Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari also attended the meeting, while Interior Secretary Yousuf Naseem Khokhar attended the meeting via video link.
The ministers after reviewing the recommendations of the extradition treaty gave final approval and decided to share the same with the UK government.
After the consultation with the UK government, the draft will be presented before the federal cabinet for the go-ahead.
If Pakistan succeeds in signing this accord, it will join the club of over 100 countries that have such an agreement with the United Kingdom and both the countries can exchange convicted prisoners.
However, the agreement will only allow the repatriation of those citizens who have been sentenced by the courts of law.
The first round of the discussion about the extradition treaty was held in October 2019.
Currently, no formal extradition treaty exists between Pakistan and the UK through Section 194 of the UK Extradition Act 2003 contains provisions for special “ad hoc” extradition arrangements.
In March 2020, the Foreign Ministry had written a letter to the United Kingdom seeking former prime minister Nawaz’s deportation as he was not admitted to any hospital despite staying in London for 105 days.
