In a major upset, Pakistan ranks as the fourth worst passport for international travel for the third consecutive year. Pakistan has visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to only 31 destinations around the world.
Important to note, Henley Passport Index (HPI) gave Pakistan the low ranking as it recently published its report for 2022. To clarify, HPI ranks countries’ passports based on the number of destinations accessed without a prior visa and it ranked Pakistan at 108th position.
According to the HPI report, the passports of Japan and Singapore are at the top with access to 192 countries. EU countries also dominate the top 10 of the list with France, Netherlands, and Sweden climbing one spot to join Austria and Denmark in fourth place (with a score of 188). Meanwhile, Ireland and Portugal are in fifth place (with a score of 187).
The Henley Passport Index 2022 is out and the Pakistani passport is 4th from the bottom.
A certain charlatan had promised glorious days for the green passport. Is there a single pre polls promise he has been able to keep?@KamranShafi46@JehangirJm@amerlondon
@freecumhur pic.twitter.com/05h87ZyK5G— social.democrat (@CodeH28) January 12, 2022
Needless to say, the Afghan passport ranks at the bottom, scoring 111, with access to only 26 countries. After Pakistan, Syria, and Iraq also received low rankings of 109 and 110 respectively.
Read more: Afghanistan resumes issuing passports
A promise unfulfilled?
Pakistan’s ranking came as a massive blow as this is the third time that Pakistan’s passport has ranked fourth-worst. In 2021, HPI ranked Pakistan as the fourth weakest passport. Pakistanis hoped that the rankings would change, however, there have been no improvements. Due to this, Pakistanis are heavily criticizing PM Khan who promised that he will make the country’s passport strong.
“I promise you that there will come a day that a green passport holder will be respected in the world,” PM Khan had said.
"I promise you that there will come a day that a green passport holder will be respected in the world"#ARYNews #WelcomeHomePMIK pic.twitter.com/axwZv65OmG
— ARY NEWS (@ARYNEWSOFFICIAL) July 24, 2019
“During the 126-day sit-in, Imran Khan made big claims. One of the claims was that the green passport would be respected in the world. But unfortunately, all claims proved to be the most unsuccessful. Imran Khan it is an easy solution for you to resign now for the respect of Pakistan,” one Twitterati used.
https://twitter.com/AbdulQa83371233/status/1481513465819045889?s=20
On another note, Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi urged Spain to review travel advisory for Pakistan. The foreign minister visited Spain at the invitation of his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares.
During his meeting with his Spanish counterpart, FM Qureshi urged the Spanish government to review the Pakistan travel advisory following remarkable improvement in the law and order situation.
He discussed bilateral ties, multifaceted cooperation in trade, investment, and tourism besides the regional and global matters.
Read more: Govt. facilitates people with expired Passports & CNICs