ISLAMABAD: During Monday’s hearing of the Reko Diq case, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said it was necessary to adhere to local laws in trade agreements and that every country had made it compulsory for foreigners to follow their laws, DawnNews reported.

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar, was hearing the case constituting of identical petitions filed against the federal government’s decision to lease out gold and copper mines in Reko Diq in Balochistan’s Chagai district to foreign companies.

The chief justice said that whether a country was small or big, its sovereignty was important.

With regard to states enforcing their laws on foreigners, he gave the example of India’s handling of Pakistani artists Adnan Sami Khan and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.

During the proceeding, the chief justice remarked that terrorism had reached its furthest limit in Pakistan.

He added one could find businessmen in Balochistan who had no businesses running in the province.

The bench directed Advocate Khalid Anwar, the counsel for the Tethyan Cooper Company (TCC), to conclude his arguments during today’s hearing.