Nicop | Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar Wednesday said that the children of incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan were “welcome” to visit Pakistan on their National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (Nicop) for which no visa is required.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday that the children of incarcerated former premier Imran Khan were “welcome” to visit Pakistan on their National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (Nicop). He made the remarks on X, in response to a post by Imran’s former spouse, Jemima Goldsmith, who had appealed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif regarding the delay in issuing visas to his sons, Kasim and Sulaiman. “Imran Khan’s phone call will be arranged on Eid day with his children as done in the past as well,” the information minister said. “His children are welcome to visit Pakistan on their Nicop cards as Pakistani citizens for which no visa is required. However, they will fully comply with the laws of Pakistan during their stay,” he said. Kasim and his older brother Suleiman live in London with their mother and will have to travel to Pakistan to meet Imran, who is imprisoned at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail. In her appeal to PM Shehbaz on Monday, Jemima had stated, “My sons Sulaiman and Kasim Khan app...

PTI founder Imran Khan’s sister, Aleema Khanum, clarified on Saturday that his sons have applied for National Identity Cards for Overseas Pakistanis (Nicops) as well as visas to visit Pakistan. Imran, imprisoned since August 2023, is serving a sentence at the Adiala Jail in a £190 million corruption case and also faces pending trials under the Anti-Terrorism Act related to the protests of May 9, 2023. His sons, Sulaiman Khan and Kasim Khan, have been protesting his incarceration, but uncertainty remains as to whether they will be visiting Pakistan. A day ago, Aleema said they had applied for visas and were waiting for approval from the interior ministry. That had prompted Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry to ask why they would need visas if they had the Nicop, as she had previously said. Clarifying the matter today while speaking to reporters at Adiala Jail, she said: “The Nicop of one [of the brothers] is missing and the other can’t find his card so they’ve submitted two applications: one to iss...