The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has banned all universities in the country from entering into direct contracts with international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Friday.

HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed has written a letter to the vice-chancellors of all universities and heads of educational institutions.

“No agreement should be made or activity carried out with international organisations without consulting the Foreign Ministry,” the letter reads.

“Various universities are working together with international organisations, United Nations (UN) and others on sensitive and political issues,” it adds.

“This does not send a good message to the world regarding Pakistan, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed reservations on this,” it states.

The HEC letter asked the universities to stop these activities due to the Foreign Ministry’s concerns.

“The activities should be carried out after obtaining permission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. No such contract signed or activity carried out without permission,” the HEC letter said.

“This letter will not affect the autonomy of the institutions. Institutions should operate in their own way so that there is no fear of any kind of problems in the country,” Dr Mukhtar Ahmed said.

Reporter: Syed Zubair Rashid