Business Recorder op-ed writer Farhat Ali deserves a lot of praise for presenting a highly informed perspective titled “A question of national identity and pride” on a subject of tremendous import.

He is absolutely right that “a passport serves as a symbol of a nation’s global standing and the level of respect it commands in the international community and it is a key document that facilitates travel and entry into other countries, enabling individuals to represent their countries abroad.

The strength and utility of a passport are often measured by its visa-free travel privileges and the level of access it provides to other countries”. In order to substantiate his argument he has cited a number of studies or documents. There are several factors that influence the strength of a country’s passport.

The first is said to be income. In Pakistan’s case, however, there are several factors that have negatively influenced its passport’s strength. How ironic it is that once world’s one of the powerful passport is now at the bottom of the world rankings.

Our passport has lost its value steadily but surely over a period of time. There are some valid or plausible reasons behind this unfortunate state of affairs. Hence the need for taking all the needed steps aimed at restoring the strength or image of our passport.

Zahid Qurban Mehdi,

Karachi

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