ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Monday expressed a firm commitment that the state will follow the policy of “no surrender, no retreat”, emphasising that terrorists will have to surrender unconditionally if they seek any mercy.

PM Kakar stated that the caretaker government was not eager to show mercy to terrorists who had killed thousands of innocent people in the country.

“No surrender, no retreat from the state. If they [terrorists] want to surrender, they should do it unconditionally. No one has any interest in talking to them. They have killed thousands of innocent people, yet jobs are being provided to them. This is totally madness,” Mr Kakar said, while meeting families of martyrs at the interior ministry, where he had earlier launched the country’s new visa policy.

He categorically said that no person would be allowed to take the law into his hands, adding that only the state had the legitimate right to use armed power through its security forces.

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He mentioned that any past damage caused by leniency towards militants would be addressed.

“We cannot compensate those who lost loved ones but can acknowledge and honour their invaluable sacrifices,” he added.

PM Kakar stated that the reward for the martyrs’ souls rested with Allah Almighty.

However, he stressed that it was society’s responsibility to honour them with a distinguished status.

“I pay tribute to all martyrs — an unending list of heroes from all segments of society, including police, politicians, journalists, soldiers, and even children,” he said.

A senior leader of Awami National Party (ANP), Mian Iftikhar, who had lost his only son in a terror attack, was among the relatives of martyrs.

Speaking on the occasion, he said that earlier, people had considered militants as their heroes, but they later started hating them when the true face of militants became apparent.

New visa regime

Earlier, at the launch of a new ‘investor’ visa policy, the prime minister congratulated the interior ministry for achieving a “good milestone”.

He said the country needed to further rationalise its visa policy with the goal of attracting investment.

“Unless we open up to the world, we cannot attract investment and develop connectivity,” he said, adding that a country’s visa policy is the cornerstone of its economic roadmap.

The minister was briefed on the new visa policy, which includes the introduction of investor visas and the revision of the existing business visa category.

The investor visa has been introduced in line with the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) initiative.

The hassle-free process allows visa approval within 24 hours, with a short-term (one-three years) and long-term entry visas (five years).

The process requires minimal documentation, with the option of converting the entry business and investor visa into a long-term investor visa.

The prime minister was informed that the business visa category was revised with the introduction of SIFC Business Entry and its extension. Business visas will be issued within 24 hours for a six-month short-term entry visa and a five-year long-term visa.

The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) is managing the visa process and has also deployed its staff at the SIFC.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2023