The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) hosted an Interfaith Iftar Dinner in honor of Minister of State for National Health Services Mahesh Kumar Malani which was attended by the representatives of Hindu and Christian communities as well as the members of business community. Chaman Lal, Pritam Das, Ashok Kumar, Rajesh Kumar, Om Prakash, Jadesh Kumar, Lal Chand, Lalat Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Raja Javaraj, Besham Kumar, Lajpat, Ramesh Kumar and others were present in dinner.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for National Health Services Mahesh Kumar Malani said that the government is aware of the difficulties being faced by the business community due to import restrictions and LC issues. He said that matters with the IMF are progressing positively and assured that soon the LCs issue of the business community would be resolved which would help revive business activities. He said that after Eid, he would arrange a meeting of the representatives of the pharmaceutical sector with the Drug Regulatory Authority to resolve their problems. He said that compared to India, the non-Muslims are enjoying better rights in Pakistan and he is proud to be a Pakistani. He said that non-Muslims in Pakistan never felt any deprivation. He thanked ICCI for hosting the interfaith dinner and said that he will continue to play his role in promoting interfaith harmony to strengthen the national unity and take Pakistan on the path of sustainable development. He assured that he will cooperate with ICCI in resolving the key issues of the business community.

Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, speaking on the occasion, briefed the Minister of State for National Health Services Mahesh Kumar Malani about the major problems of the business community and requested his cooperation to solve them. He said that due to non-opening of LCs, many industries are in danger of closing down and business activities are suffering. He he demanded that the government should focus on resolving these issues as soon as possible. He said that the pharmaceutical sector is also facing some problems with the drug regulatory authority, so the Minister should cooperate in resolving them. He said that ICCI is the hub of activities to promote interfaith harmony as the Chamber celebrates Christmas with the Christian community every year and assured that ICCI would also try to celebrate religious events of Hindu community to further improve interfaith harmony as such events can play an effective role in promoting tolerance and strengthening national unity in Pakistan.

Faad Waheed, Senior Vice President ICCI, in his address, paid tribute to the efforts of Minister of State for National Health Services Mahesh Kumar Malani for promoting interfaith harmony and assured that the Chamber would strengthen his hands in these efforts.

Engr. Azharul Islam Zafar, Vice President ICCI thanked Mahesh Kumar Malani, Minister of State for National Health Services for visiting ICCI and hoped that he would help in resolving issues of the business community.