The President of FPCCI, Tanveer Ahmad Shaikh, on Saturday condemned the kidnapping of Chinese nationals in Islamabad by students of Jamia Hafsa and said that it would damage the image of the country internationally.
Talking to APP on telephone, he said that Pakistan was already struggling to improve its image world-wide and such incidents might frustrate these effort. He said that although it was a political issue, but it would affect Pakistan's efforts for expanding international trade and attract foreign investment.
He urged the authorities to improve law and order situation and not allow such elements to challenge the writ of the government. "We are already struggling with our image, and such kind of activities tend to tarnish the country reputation in the world," he added.
Tanveer said that China is the largest trading partner of Pakistan and it is also making huge investment in the country. He said that Chinese engineers are working on major development projects in Pakistan, and kidnapping of Chinese nationals would force them to abandon their work.
The FPCCI president underlined the need for taking immediate steps to stop such activities in the country, if the government wanted to improve its image in the outside world.
They observed that under no condition no individual or group, other than law enforcers, could be authorised to take action against citizens or foreigners that, too, after fulfilment of required legalities. Nudrat Iqbal, a woman rights activist, said that foreign professionals delivering at a public service utility must have acquired the required permits. "In other words, they must have fulfilled attached legalities," she said.
She also took strong exception to the fact that violation of law was committed by the self-proclaimed champions of morality. "We must realise, at all levels, that legality and morality go hand in hand, and one can not be trampled at the cost of the other," she said.