Singer and television host Fakhre Alam — who had been detained at the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport a day earlier for landing with an expired visa — has been cleared to travel ahead after the Russian authorities renewed his visa, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal tweeted on Tuesday.
"Pleased to confirm that visa [has been] granted to Fakhre Alam by authorities of Russian Federation today in the morning," Dr Faisal said in his tweet and added that Pakistan's ambassador to Russia had "remained in touch with Fakhar-e-Alam throughout his stay" at Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport.
He also thanked the Russian authorities for their cooperation.
Alam also tweeted to confirm that his visa had been renewed and thanked the government, media, Russian authorities and well wishers.
"I continue to fly my flag to complete the first ever Pakistani circumnavigation," he said in a series of tweets.
Earlier this month, Alam had set off on a journey, that he named "Mission Parwaaz", to travel around the world in 28 days to "become the first Pakistani in the history of the world to do so".
However, the trip suffered a setback yesterday when he was detained at a Russian airport for landing with an expired visa. The incident came to the Foreign Office's notice after actor Faysal Quraishi posted a message on Alam's behalf, where he had appealed the Pakistani government to help him.
