Pakistan embassy in Afghan capital Kabul says that no visa will be issued to Afghan national who do not have polio-free certificates. "All the Visa applicants are hereby informed that it is hence forth mandatory for all the Afghan nationals seeking Pakistani visa to produce a hospital certificate on account that he/she is polio-free and no visa applicant will be entertained without a vaccination certificate," a statement from the embassy said. The announced was posted on December 27, 2017, and the polio-free certificate was also made mandatory from the same date.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the region, which are not polio free. Nigeria is the third country in the list of countries not free from polio. Pakistan's decision is likely to affect Afghans, who want to come to Pakistan for education, treatment, business and to meet relatives. Pakistan had introduced visas and passports for Afghan nationals in June 2016 over concerns that free border movement would enable the militants to enter Pakistan for violence.

Copyright News Network International, 2018