Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday asked foreign diplomats to play their part in revisiting their countries' travel advisories for Pakistan days after Islamabad liberalised its visa regime in order to give tourism a boost.

Qureshi, while addressing a ceremony attended by foreign diplomats in Islamabad, apprised them of how counter-terror operations had facilitated the return of normalcy to Swat and the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

"People have to leave their homes and go back to Swat today and see the difference. People in the Fata regions were also displaced. Go back today and see what was happened in Fata," he urged them. "Who did it? The people of Pakistan. The resilience and resolve to fight back and defeat terrorism and reverse extremism," he asserted.

"We've succeeded to an extent, but we intend to move on. And I think these initiatives are the next steps that are required," he said, adding: "It will only happen with your help."

The foreign minister said Pakistan had played its part by liberalising its visa regime. "You'll have to do your bit," he told the diplomats. "And your bit is travel advisories."

"Many countries have travel advisories. Please revisit them so that we can engage," he said.

Qureshi said that as diplomats, their purpose is to "build relations".

"And relations can only be built if they are people-centric," he added.

"You can play a significant role in turning around relations," Qureshi told the envoys.

On January 25, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the government was introducing a "new revolutionary visa policy" to encourage tourism in the country, in order to make it a foundation for change in the country.

Chauhdry said the government had decided to provide the e-visa facility to 175 countries and visa on arrival to 50 countries. Visa on arrival will also be provided to Indian-origin British and American citizens holding United States or United Kingdom passports.

Visa policy a 'milestone' for tourism

Earlier today, Prime Minister Imran Khan said the government's visa policy would prove to be a "milestone" for the promotion of tourism in the country, Radio Pakistan reported.

Speaking to MNAs for Malakand division in Islamabad, the prime minister said there was special emphasis on the promotion of tourism in line with the tourism potential of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He added that flights from Peshawar to Malaysia would soon be started in order to facilitate Pakistanis working there.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in its manifesto promised to develop 20 new tourist destinations during its tenure, at an average of four a year.

The tourism department intends to explore tourism potential in Kurram tribal district and the Samana hill station in Orakzai tribal district under the plan, and has also selected 25 areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where sites will be identified for the promotion of tourism.

Recently, the government also announced it would open the Kartarpur Corridor to Sikh pilgrims from India in 2019, and has outlined a plan to facilitate them.