During a meeting with the Chinese Ambassador in Pakistan Masha Jiang Zaidong, Interior Minister Mohsin Raza Naqvi assured him that new standard operating procedures (SOPs) have been developed for the security of Chinese citizens across the country and strict implementation will be ensured.

It is commendable that the government has responded quickly to attacks on foreign nationals after Bisham. Law Enforcement Agencies have started conducting operations in the regions surrounding Gwadar, and the armed forces are gearing up for an extended campaign in the western border region.

Furthermore, it is great to see both nations realize these attacks are being carried out by foreign-funded militants, whose objective is to slow down and disrupt the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) globally. A joint understanding that these attacks stem from geopolitical rivalries allows both Pakistan and China to coordinate responses and offset any misunderstandings that enemies hope to create within them. However, forces looking to harm Pakistan are not only trying to create a wedge between Pakistan and China, but they are also looking to turn different provinces and ethnicities against each other. In Gwadar, workers from Punjab are mercilessly targeted. On Thursday, seven barbershop workers were killed, and one was injured in Surbandar, Gwadar when unknown gunmen entered their residential quarters and opened fire on them while they were sleeping. This follows a similar attack in April, when nine people from Punjab were killed near Noshki, after gunmen forced them off a bus they were travelling in, checked their IDs, and shot them. While condemnation has poured in from political leaders for the latest attack, the fact that within a few weeks, two attacks have targeted Punjabi workers without an answer is a shameful state of affairs. The dream of Gwadar as a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic port city is dependent on safety and prosperity for all. If Pakistan cannot protect its infrastructural keystone, all other projects that connect it to Central Asia and beyond become ineffective as well.

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Therefore, while these new procedures for protecting foreign national are appreciated, Pakistan should make sure it protects its own citizens equally. Our Interior Ministry and armed forces must work to make security for Gwadar foolproof for all.