‘TRANSFORMATIVE DAY’.
Bunch of thugs acted on Imran’s orders to attack military installments: PM.
LAHORE - The first Russian discounted crude oil cargo has arrived in Karachi and will begin oil discharge on Monday (today), Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif made this announcement on Twitter on Sunday.
“I have fulfilled another of my promises to the nation, the prime minister said.” Today is a transformative day. We are moving one step at a time toward prosperity, economic growth and energy security & affordability.” He said this was the first ever Russian oil cargo to Pakistan and the beginning of a new relationship between Pakistan and Russian Federation. Shehbaz Sharif commended all those who remained part of this national endeavor and contributed to translating the promise of Russian oil import into reality.
‘AGREEMENT WITH IMF’
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Sunday expressed hope that Pakistan will reach agreement with International Monetary Fund (IMF) in June to get the remaining loan as his government had met all the conditions with sincerity. Speaking at a ceremony at Sabzazar Sports Complex here, he said he had a long conversation with chief of IMF recently and he assured that the government would meet conditions for the loan and provide the required information about budget.
He said Pakistani nation was vibrant and was capable of meeting all the coming economic challenges in case of any further delay in the IMF programme.
He said despite all the economic difficulties, the federal government raised the salaries of employees by 30 to 35 percent, increased pension by 17 percent and increased minimum wage from Rs 25000 to Rs 32000. The government was aware of the economic difficulties of the poor people, he added. He said major funds were allocated for the sectors of agriculture and information technology in the federal budget presented by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, adding the budget would provide relief to the common man and create jobs.
The prime minister said he assumed government in April 2022 amid very tough economic conditions. Last year, the government of Imran Niazi broke the agreement with International Monetary Fund and the coalition government had to face the challenge of rising commodity and oil prices in the international market and then it spent huge funds for the relief and rehabilitation of people affected by the devastating funds, he mentioned. The government had to seek help from friendly countries to overcome economic challenges, he continued.
He said the government of Imran Niazi showed negligence and did not buy gas when its prices were very low in the international market during the COVID pandemic. Imran Niazi did nothing for the people but wasted all his time in waging vendetta against opposition leaders, he added. He said Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, Hamza Shehbaz and other leaders of Pakistan Muslim League (N) were put in the jails and opposition was pushed against the wall. Shehbaz said economic stability was not possible without political stability and vowed to put Pakistan on the path of greater progress and prosperity under the dynamic leadership of Nawaz Sharif.
He said the incidents of May 9 were acts of hostility against the nation, adding the military installations were attacked and Jinnah House was burned down on the instigation of Imran Niazi. He asserted that law will take its course and all those responsible for the incident of May 9 would be punished so that these crimes could not be repeated again. However, he assured that innocent would be treated fairly and with justice.
The PM said in 2017, as servant of Punjab province he started work on a plan for establishing 14 state of the art sports complexes but the fascist government of Imran Niazi stopped the project after the stolen elections of 2018. The proposed sports complexes included facilities of swimming pools, gymnasiums, badminton and squash courts. He recalled that the leadership of Pakistan Muslim League(N) was put in jail for initiating huge public welfare projects including projects of clean drinking water and solid waste management in cities. In the four years of the previous government, work on the development projects including projects worth billions of rupees of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) were stopped, he said adding the government led by Nawaz Sharif in its tenure eliminated power outages, constructed a network of roads across Pakistan and carried out monumental development projects.
He said today he was inaugurating the first of the 14 sports complexes from which talented youth will benefit free of charge. The sports complex would have separate facilities for boys and girls and 50 percent of the membership would be free while the other half of members would be charged to meet the operational costs of the complex. Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday said that the enhanced bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and Turkiye through joint investment and ventures would prove ‘a win win’ situation for the both countries. In an interview with Haber Global, a Turkish Tv channel, the prime minister highlighted that a target of bilateral trade to the tune of $5 billion, in the next three years, between the two countries was very much achievable.
The prime minister said that the areas of solar and hydro power energy in Pakistan possessed huge potential and the Turkish investors could avail of this opportunity. “I want to assure as Prime Minister of Pakistan to do everything to facilitate Turkish investors. There is great scope between the two countries to make this wonderful journey more successful,” he added. The prime minister opined that respective sectors of Turkiye had potential in these areas of Pakistan and it could play its role. Our labour was more skilled and if they have Turkish investment, it would be a well combination, thus opening vistas of opportunities for joint ventures, he added. The prime minister, to another query, replied that the railroad network between Pakistan, Iran and Turkiye could play a very important role which required improvisation.
It would definitely result in reduction of the cost of transportation and making their production of goods very compatible in the global markets, he said, adding that his aim was make this network more efficient.
Felicitating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his reelection, the prime minister said that the president had proved himself as an established statesman and politician.
The prime minister said that he was looking forward to working closely with president Erdogan to further cement their bilateral relations and trade and investment ties.
Comparing Pakistan and Turkiye as ‘one soul two hearts’ he said the relations between the two countries dated back to centuries. Turkiye had always supported Pakistan in difficult times, ie; during floods and quakes, it had gone an extra mile to support them, he added.
Similarly, different governments of Pakistan irrespective of the political party in power, they always supported their Turkish brothers and sisters. When it came to Turkiye, all the political parties were one.
“This is the journey we have adopted and hope to achieve our mission through hard work and sincerity of purpose,” he stressed. The prime minister said that these personal bonds of brothers and friends always helped them to come through every thick and thin. The prime minister said that Pakistan and Turkiye enjoyed strong strategic partnership as they had also entered into joint ventures over ship making industry, adding while there were other areas in which both brotherly countries had shared interests.
He reaffirmed support to Turkiye’s territorial solidarity and integrity and said that Turkiye had always supported Pakistan on the issue of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The prime minister, responding to a question, said that they had been passing though difficult challenges, prices were sky rocketed due to imported inflation, the floods had displaced 33 million people while crops were completely washed away and infrastructure stood damaged which had cost them around $30 billion losses.Still, he reiterated that the people of Pakistan were strong and facing these challenges, and expressed his optimism that they would negotiate through these challenges with joint efforts.
The prime minister, to another question, maintained that the coalition government had successfully galvanized the international community after floods last year and arranged a Geneva donors’ conference where the intentional community made pledges, thus it saved the country from serious dangers of default. The previous government reneged its agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that led to very serious economic situation. They coalition government was able to negotiate with the Financial Action Task Force (FATAF) and Pakistan was out of the grey area. “The credit goes to the coalition government which was a big achievement,” he added.
The prime minister said that despite these challenges, they were focused on improving the economy and cited recent wheat and cotton crop yields, saying that they economy of Pakistan was improving.
The prime minister expressed the confidence that the IMF’s 9th review would sooner of later be approved as they had met all the points. Prime Minister Sharif further said that the Indian atrocities and the sacrifices of Kashmiri people were known to the entire world.
He said that India was adamant and had a hegemonic attitude, stressing “It was a high time for the world to resolve the Kashmir issue as per UN Security Council resolutions and aspirations of the Kashmiri people.”
Unless, the issue was resolved, peace could not return. Only holding of peaceful talks was a way forward for the peaceful resolution of the issue, he said, adding the both countries needed to feed and create jobs for its population and eliminate poverty by spending their resources on these areas. To a question, the prime minister maintained that they had formed a committee to hold parleys with the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and to arrive on a peaceful settlement of holding of elections nationwide. The committees were agreed but Imran Khan refused.
