Islamabad: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Sunday rejected claims that the sons of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan had been denied visas to enter Pakistan, saying they could visit the country on their National Identity Cards for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOPs). “The children of the founder of PTI last travelled to Pakistan on these NICOPs in 2022. And today, if they want, they can visit Pakistan. Both NICOPs are valid. It is wrong for the family or PTI to give the impression that the government is not giving them visas,” the defence minister said in a post on X. The statement came in response to reports that Imran’s sons had been barred from travelling to Pakistan. A day earlier, the Information Ministry had also rejected similar claims, saying that both held valid NICOPs. According to the ministry, a valid NICOP is a recognised travel document for entry into Pakistan and can be used by the two men to travel to the country.
Asif further said in his statement that, with valid NICOPs, the two could travel to Pakistan whenever they wanted and did not require visas.
He also shared the details of the NICOP for both of Imran’s children: “Sulaiman Khan: NICOP (35202-273-22XX-1) is available, which is valid until January 6, 2030”, and “Kasim Khan: NICOP (35202-782-76XX-1) is available, which is valid until November 8, 2032”.
