Pakistanis are welcome in Kuwait, says ambassador

Kuwait City : Pakistan's ambassador in Kuwait clarified that Kuwait hasn't placed any visa ban on Pakistani nationals.

A Geo TV report quoted Ghulam Dastagir as saying that news on social media about the ban was baseless.

He added that same news had sprung up in 2011.

Earlier, a newspaper claimed that Kuwait has banned nationals from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. It claimed that the ban included on tourism, visit and trade visas as well as visas sponsored by spouses.

Sputnik International in a report had said that Kuwait suspended the issuance of visas for nationals of Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran.

It said the Kuwaiti government told would-be migrants from the five banned nations to not apply for visas, as it is worried about the possible migration of radical Islamic terrorists.

Kuwait was the only nation to prohibit the entry of Syrian nationals prior to Trump's executive action. Kuwait City previously issued a suspension of visas for all Syrians in 2011.

A group of militants bombed a Shia mosque in 2015, killing 27 Kuwaiti nationals. A 2016 survey conducted by Expat Insider ranked Kuwait one of the worst nations in the world for expatriates, primarily due to its strict cultural laws.

As a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Kuwait has become embroiled in escalated tensions between the GCC and Iran. Washington has been a guarantor of GCC security since the early 1990s, according to a Congressional Research Service brief.