Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry speaks to reporters outside the Parliament House in Islamabad on October 9, 2025. SCREENGRAB
Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry said on Thursday that ties between Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates were “absolutely fine” and dismissed speculation of a rift in ties.
He made this statement during a meeting of the National Assembly (NA) while responding to the concerns of the parliamentarians over the alleged deportation of Pakistanis from the Middle Eastern country.
The issue first surfaced last month when some social media accounts claimed that around 1,200 Pakistanis had been deported from the UAE over visa-related issues and alleged offenses in the wake of the regional crisis that erupted after the US-Iran war. A report published by New York Times claimed that the UAE had begun a large-scale deportation of Pakistani workers.
The report said it interviewed 20 Pakistani Shiites, including eight businessmen based in the Emirates, who claimed their Pakistani employees had been deported in recent weeks. According to the report, the deportations came amid “perceived Emirati displeasure over Pakistan’s response to Iranian attacks” on the Gulf state as Islamabad attempted to broker a peace deal between the US and Iran. The Home Office had dismissed the reports as “mala fide” and part of an “evil propaganda” campaign.
Chaudhry warned against “building false narratives against friendly countries” while rejecting claims that UAE deportations were based on sectarian grounds.
“The government has categorically rejected these rumours,” he stressed.
Addressing the audience, the minister highlighted that the highest amount of remittances was received from overseas Pakistanis residing in Saudi Arabia, followed by the UAE.
“Currently, 1.7 million Pakistanis are living in the UAE ‘legally’,” he said, adding that these people helped uplift both the host country and Pakistan.
“We should not jump to premature conclusions about countries as it may adversely affect our future ties.”
Furthermore, the minister assured that the government would protect all citizens and address their complaints regardless of their “religion and ethnicity”.
Throwing light on the good ties between Pakistan and the UAE, the interior minister said: “Holders of official and diplomatic passports are now granted access under new arrangements, a facility which was not available earlier.”
Passport ranking and visa facilitation
Reflecting on the government’s performance, Chaudhry said, “Pakistan’s passport ranking and international travel facilitation have improved in the current period.”
He asked lawmakers to compare the current and previous terms of office in terms of achievements, claiming that “several visa facilitation agreements” had been signed with a host of countries, including arrangements for holders of diplomatic and official passports.
“Progress has also been made on visa-free entry schemes,” he claimed.
Terrorism
Commenting on the recent onslaught of terrorism, the home minister said the “fight against it” was being done by both the provincial and federal governments.
He urged the parliamentarians to review the government’s performance against the ground realities to fairly assess the situation.
Chaudhry also called on lawmakers for a thorough parliamentary debate on the implementation of the National Action Plan.
“All the stakeholders had agreed on it,” he said while asking the floor to point out shortcomings in the implementation “if any”.
He asked the members to also set aside a session to evaluate the plan’s execution and effectiveness in the fight against terrorism.
