Islamabad: Days after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to impose tough controls on travelers from seven Muslim countries, Pakistan on Thursday said it is every country`s sovereign right to regulate its immigration policy.
However, the Muslim country expressed concern that the US' move could become a propaganda opportunity for extremists.
"It is every country`s sovereign right to decide its immigration policy," Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said on Thursday at his weekly media briefing.
The spokesman, however, asked the US administration to consider "humanitarian and political dimensions" of the decision, reports the Dawn.
"Countries would be well advised to adopt policies that are not susceptible to be exploited as propaganda tools by entities wishing to see cracks in the coalition against extremism and terrorism along religious lines," added Zakaria.
Last week, Trump unleashed a wave of alarm with his order to temporarily halt all refugee arrivals and impose tough controls on travelers from seven Muslim countries.
Making good on one of his most controversial campaign promises, and to the horror of human rights groups, Trump said he was making America safe from "radical Islamic terrorists."
"This is big stuff," he declared at the Pentagon, after signing an executive order entitled "Protection of the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States."
Trump`s decree suspends the entire US refugee resettlement program for at least 120 days while tough vetting rules are established.
In addition, it specifically bars Syrian refugees from the United States indefinitely, or until the President himself decides that they no longer pose a threat.
Meanwhile, no visas will be issued for 90 days to migrants or visitors from seven mainly-Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
On Wednesday, Pakistan rejected reports of a visa ban by Kuwait on its nationals.
Pakistani Ambassador in Kuwait Ghulam Dastagir has termed news on social media about the ban as baseless, adding that similar news had cropped up in 2011, Geo News reported.
