ISLAMABAD   -   Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has declared said that the federal government has no intention to interfere in the workings of the Sindh government.

Addressing the National Assembly on Friday, Qureshi while assuring the parliamentarians from Sindh said the PTI government would not let any harm comes in the way of provincial autonomy.

About invoking Article 149 in Karachi, Qureshi in his policy statement said there was no intention to mess with the Sindh government. “You should have no fear at all on this matter,” he said, assuring that this government has respect for the constitution.

He further mentioned that Farogh Naseem had also clarified his remarks about invoking Article 149(4).

Article 149(4) reads: “The executive authority of the federation shall also extend to the giving of directions to a province as to the manner in which the executive authority thereof is to be exercised for the purpose of preventing any grave menace to the peace or tranquillity or economic life of Pakistan or any part thereof.”

About PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto’s statement, he said that a lawmaker should avoid giving impression that there was a wave of provincial discrimination. “It was not appropriate to speak about “Sindhu desh” and “Pakhtunistan”...I am not casting doubt over intentions of Bilawal Bhutto but it is not good to use Sindh card,” he said, mentioning that those spoke about Pakhtunistan were defeated.

PPP-P’s Khursheed Shah, on point order, said that it was unfair to do politics on litter in Karachi. He said that the government should avoid any amendment by invoking Article-149(4).

The foreign minister said that the opposition has a right to go to court to raise its voice on the matter of production orders. The protest of opposition on the issue of production orders, during the joint session, reflected the priority of the opposition on the matter.

Earlier, PML-N’s Khwaja Asif had threatened to move court against non-issuance of production orders of detained parliamentarians.

About the rumour for filing a reference against CEC by the government, he said the opposition could go to court to resist this move.

Speaker National Assembly, responding to the opposition member, said he had issued maximum number of production orders as compared to other speakers in the previous governments.

The PML-N member, however, rushed to respond that this government had arrested maximum number of lawmakers.

DIPLOMATIC SUCCESSES ON KASHMIR

Qureshi claimed that Pakistan has registered major diplomatic successes on Kashmir issue against India. “Prime Minister Imran Khan representing his country at the UN General Assembly on 27th September, will raise the Kashmir issue by moving resolutions,” said Qureshi while responding to concerns raised by opposition.

About the concerns raised over his alleged controversial statement about Kashmir, the minister responded that the government stance is same like the entire nation on Kashmir issue.

“You [Opposition] can read my statements of August 14, August 28 and other, which clearly the stance of government on this matter,” he said.

With the clear stance of different important countries on Kashmir issue, he said that India is resorting to a propaganda campaign to hide its failure which it faced at the UNSC.

He also mentioned about the European Union’s supporting the cause of a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute in line with the UN Security Council resolutions and gave reference of four US senators’ letter to President Donald Trump, urging him to take action to resolve the issues in Kashmir.

ORDINACES LAID AMID OPP PROTEST

The government MNA laid four ordinances including ‘The Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019’, ‘Federal Government Employees Authority Ordinance, 2019, ‘National Counter Terrorism Authority (Amendment), 2019’ and ‘The National Information Technology Board Ordinance, 2019’.

The opposition parties strongly reacted for passing ordinances and staged walkout from the proceedings. They also tried to suspend the proceedings by pointing out quorum but the required strength was present in the house.

The government also introduced bills including ‘The Pakistan Coining (Amendment) 2019’, ‘The Banks (Nationalization) 2019’, ‘The Mutual Legal Assistance (Criminal Matter), 2019’, ‘The Loans Agriculture for Commercial and Industrial Purpose’, and ‘The Joint Maritime Information Organization Bill, 2019’.