Pakistan has not officially received word of any travel ban being planned by the United States for its citizens, according to multiple officials.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Ambassador Shafqat Ali Khan denied seeing reports about a possible travel ban at the weekly press briefing on Thursday.

“I haven’t seen any report as such,” Khan said.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to US told Dawn on Thursday that no official communication about any travel ban has been received. Although he added that he had seen the reports about the ban.

A news report by Reuters had said on Thursday that the Trump administration was looking at a possible travel ban on citizens of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The report said that the ban was based on a review of security and vetting risks of the said countries.

The ban is reminiscent of Trump’s 2018 ban against travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries. The ban was upheld by the US Supreme Court but eventually ended by new US President Joe Biden in 2021.

As one of his first moves in office after assuming his second term of presidency, Trump had signed an executive order to intensify security vetting of foreigners trying to get US visas to minimize security risks.

A deadline of March 21 has been set for an initial list of countries to be submitted to the countries that will fall under the travel ban. Pakistan and Afghanistan are likely to be included, the report had added.

The move could also mean increased difficulties for Afghan refugees resettlement in the US. Trump has already suspended the resettlement program leaving thousands of refugees in limbo, including 20,000 who are waiting in Pakistan.