Foreign Ministry has formed a Crisis Management Cell in order to assist and guide Pakistanis who are stranded abroad, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said.

He acknowledged that those abroad are facing difficulties but said that the challenge being faced was of a magnitude that could not have been foreseen. He urged citizens to cooperate with the government.

In a video message, he said: "You are not helpless. You are in our sight. we understand your problems, we can try to resolve them and we are trying. But we [are facing] difficulties and you have to understand that.

"We want to bring you back, but how can we do that? In order to do that we will have to put in place some protocols that were not needed before. We had to devise SOPs (standard operating procedures) which we have done now. Under those SOPs we have arranged nine flights so far and people [stranded abroad] are returning."