Shehbaz Sharif says PTI chairman capable of going to any extreme n Invites Japanese companies to invest in Pakistan n Directs FBR to ensure elimination of illegal sale of tobacco n PM summons NSC meeting today.
ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Thursday said that Imran Niazi could go to any extreme to distract attention from his culpability in the tragic events of May 9.
“Make no mistake about the evil intent behind Imran Niazi’s latest ploy to defame our law enforcement agencies and police. Yet again, he is making misleading and baseless allegations of the “rights abuses” just to distract attention for his culpability in the tragic events of May 9,” the prime minister said in a tweet.
“I am not surprised by his antics,” Prime Minister Shehbaz said.
He said that someone who could persistently use foul language against the state institutions, incite people to violence and attack the state symbols and military installations, and bring down martyrs’ monuments, was capable of going to any extreme.
The prime minister said that Imran Niazi presided over a disinformation apparatus that deployed fake news methodically to fool the people. “Everything about him is hate, division and lie,” he remarked.
Also, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Thursday said Pakistan considered Japan as an important partner for its progress and prosperity and Japanese companies should avail the immense opportunities for investment in Pakistan.
The PM was speaking to President Toyota Asia Yoshiki Konishi and Chief Executive Officer of Indus Motors Ali Asghar Jamali who called on him here.
Japan's Ambassador to Pakistan Mitsuhiro Wada, Vice Chairman Toyota Indus Motors Shinji Yanagi, Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar, Minister for Industries and Production Makhdoom Murtza Mehmood, Advisor to PM Ahad Cheema, Special Assistants to PM Jehanzeb Khan and Tariq Bajwa and high ranking officials attended the meeting.
In a briefing, the prime minister was told that Toyota Indus Motors for the first time established a unit for the production of hybrid vehicles in Pakistan with an investment of $100 million.
PM Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the project of Toyota to produce hybrid vehicles in Pakistan.
The production of hybrid vehicles in Pakistan would decrease the import bill resulting in saving of precious foreign exchange, he said adding the government was providing all available facilities to the industries for investment in modern technologies in the country.
The Japanese ambassador said leading Japanese companies were desirous of further investment in Pakistan. During the briefing, it was told that in the current year from July,Toyota Indus Motors would start export of spare parts of vehicles and these exports would make Pakistan a part of the global supply chain.
The prime minister said exports of spare parts should be enhanced by taking benefit of the capacity of the engineering sector in the country. He said it should be ensured that the spare parts for the vehicles to be sold in Pakistan should be manufactured locally.
The participants of the meeting lauded the prime minister for his government’s business-friendly policies.
‘ILLEGAL SALE OF TOBACCO’
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue to ensure complete elimination of the illegal sale of tobacco.
Talking to a delegation of Pakistan Tobacco Company in Islamabad on Thursday, he advised that installation of a track and trace system should be ensured in all tobacco factories by the 15th of the next month. The Prime Minister also gave directions to curb the smuggling of cigarettes and said that nobody will be allowed to inflict any harm on the national exchequer. He said stern action should be taken against elements involved in smuggling and the sale of tax-evaded cigarettes.
‘ERDOGAN’S INAUGURATION CEREMONY’
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will attend the inauguration ceremony of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on June 3, the Foreign Office said Thursday.
The prime minister is paying the visit at the invitation of President Erdogan, who was re-elected to his office on May 28. “The prime minister’s visit will be a reaffirmation of the deep-rooted fraternal ties between Pakistan and Turkiye,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch at her weekly press briefing.
The FO spokesperson said the prime minister would convey warm felicitations on behalf of the government and the people of Pakistan to President Erdogan.
The prime minister would also extend an invitation to President Erdogan to attend the 7th Meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC) in Islamabad, she said.
PM SUMMONS NSC MEETING TODAY
Following the political situation in the country, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) here today.
The meeting, to be chaired by the prime minister, will be attended by Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza, heads of the air force and the navy, and federal ministers for defence, finance, and information. According to the PM media office, the meeting will be briefed on the violent incidents across the country, resulting damages done to the private and public properties especially the Pakistan Army installations.
The meeting is expected to take important decisions regarding national security. The meeting comes on the heels of former prime minister Imran Khan’s dramatic arrest from the premises of the Islamabad High Court in the Al-Qadir Trust graft case.
