ISLAMABAD - Vowing to continue with support to Kashmir cause, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif yesterday said India was “sadly mistaken to equate freedom fighters with terrorists”.
“I am committed to the Kashmir cause. No power in the world can stop us from supporting the freedom struggle of Kashmiris,” the PM said while chairing a meeting of PML-N’s Central Working Committee.
He stressed that Burhan Wani, the Kashmiri youth martyred by Indian forces, was a freedom fighter and the “pride of Kashmiris”.
“No one can deprive him [Wani] of that pride,” he said.
On energy crisis, Nawaz said his government was working day and night to overcome energy shortage and vowed to end power loadshedding by 2018.
He said more than 10,000-MW electricity would be added to the national grid by 2018.
He said the land for construction of Bhasha dam had been acquired, for which an amount of Rs 100 billion had been released.
The Prime Minister said mining process had been started in Thar and also coal-based power plants were being installed, which he said “never happened in 70 years”.
He recalled that since assumption of power in 2013, the government had been facing several challenges, however was overcoming these satisfactorily.
He said terrorist activities were reduced significantly and economy had been strengthened.
Nawaz Sharif mentioned that the Karachi operation, started with the consultation of all stakeholders, was yielding positive results.
About PTI planned protest in Islamabad, Nawaz said the elements wanted to paralyse the country through their negative politics, “would fail miserably” in their attempts. “They earlier failed in their 2014 attempt, and would again fail this time as well,” the PM said.
He said his government’s agenda was of “development and progress”, however some people wanted to derail this process and “only believed in protests”.
Nawaz Sharif said democracy gives the right to protest, but with some limits.
About the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, he said the project of infrastructure development would benefit Balochistan the most.
He mentioned that the government was also focusing on social sector, with several hospitals to be built in next 18 months.
Due to low price of agriculture goods in international market, the government will compensate the farmers, he added. He said subsidy was being given for installation of solar tube wells in Balochistan.
He said motorways/highways worth Rs1,000 billion are being constructed in the country. At the same time the government is also working on the social sector development, and most modern hospitals will be built in next 18 months.
He said the government will compensate the farmers due to low price of agriculture goods in international market. “We are giving subsidy for installation of solar tube wells in Balochistan” to improve the lot of farmers of the province.