Shehbaz says youth always excelled whenever given opportunities n South Asia won’t attain peace without peaceful Kashmir solution n Urges countrymen to promote tolerance, social justice n Assures to take up MQM reservations on census at PDM meeting.

 

ISLAMABAD  -  Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said the present government would ensure that the next caretaker gov­ernment carried forward the poli­cies of national interest to achieve consistent progress. Chairing a meeting to review the reforms in the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) here yesterday, the prime minister directed the relevant authorities to introduce reforms on priority basis in the SOEs inflicting loss to the na­tional exchequer.

He instructed to ensure the trans­parency in the process of outsourc­ing the services as well as public-pri­vate partnership. The prime minister said the government was taking all-out measures to uplift the working of institutions at par with international standards and provide the best facil­ities to the masses. During the brief­ing, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was told that the reforms process of the SOEs was going on swiftly.

It was told that the government would ensure the inclusion of ex­perts in the boards of the SOEs to es­tablish modern systems and provide better facilities. The prime minister was briefed on the performance in­dicators of the institutions as well as the corporations and the on­going reforms process there.

Federal ministers Ishaq Dar, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Syed Naveed Qamar, Makhdoom Murtaza Mah­mood, Engineer Khurram Dastgir, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Advisor Ahad Cheema and special as­sistants to PM Jahanzeb Khan and Tariq Bajwa, and senior officers attended the meet­ing. Meanwhile, the prime minister in a tweet said that the country’s youth always proved their mettle at the in­ternational level whenever provided the right opportu­nities. He mentioned his yes­terday’s launch of a youth sports initiative programme aimed at converging the en­ergies of youth towards a positive direction.

PM Sharif expressed confi­dence that youth would ex­cel under the patronage of the Prime Minister’s Youth Sports Initiative.

He pointed out the shortage of facilities for sportsmen in the country to compete in the games at the international level. The programme would promote sports across the country through the training of talented youth, he added.

The prime minister hoped that future governments would ensure the continuity of the programme in best in­terest of the youth.

Shehbaz Sharif a day earli­er launched multiple initia­tives for promoting sports culture and welfare of the sports persons including the Rs 5 billion Pakistan Sports Endowment Fund with seed money of Rs 5 billion. The other initiatives include the soft launch of the first dedi­cated Sports University, the Elite Sportspersons Devel­opment Programme and the e-sports development pro­gramme. On his Twitter handle, Prime Minister Mu­hammad Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday reiterated that without the just and peace­ful resolution of the Kashmir dispute, South Asia would never be able to attain dura­ble peace and unlock its true development potential.

He said the government and the people of Pakistan expressed their unflinching support and solidarity with the Kashmiris living in Paki­stan, Azad Jammu and Kash­mir, Indian Illegally Occu­pied Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere in the world on the Day of Accession to Pakistan.

The Day marked the adop­tion of a resolution by the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference at a convention in Srinagar in 1947 that called for merging Kashmir with Pa­kistan, he added.

“We strongly condemn the relentless Indian persecution of Kashmiris & grave viola­tion of human rights and call upon the UN and internation­al community to ensure the implementation of the UN resolutions,” he further add­ed in a tweet.

Meanwhile, in his message to the nation at the start of Hijri year 1445, the Prime Minister urged countrymen to strive for emulating the noble teachings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his companions besides building a society featuring principles of social justice and equality.

“Let us pledge today that we will strive to emulate the noble qualities established by our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his companions. Let us promote tolerance, un­derstanding and respect for each other regardless of our differences. Let us work to­wards building a society that upholds the principles of so­cial justice, equality and com­passion,” he said.

Extending greetings to the nation and the whole Muslim Ummah, the prime minister prayed to Allah Almighty that the new Islamic year proved to be a year of peace, progress and prosperity for Pakistan as well as the Muslim world. He also prayed that the new year also brought ease to the lives of Muslims suffering across the world and people of Kashmir and Palestine got deliverance from oppression and achieve peace, progress and prosperity.

He said the new Islamic year also reminded the mo­ments when the family of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) sacrificed their lives un­der the leadership of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) and be­came immortal in the battle between truth and falsehood.

The prime minister said that Imam Hussain (RA) and his companions sacrificed their lives to uphold the prin­ciples of truth and justice, and his unwavering belief against oppression and tyranny was an everlasting example of courage and sacrifice.

He said the said events were also a reminder of the values of compassion, justice, and unity which also taught the followers to stand up against injustice and oppres­sion besides working for a society featuring peace, har­mony, and co-existence.

Prime Minister Shehbaz said that Allah Almighty had reduced the economic dif­ficulties of Pakistan conse­quent to the government’s hard work and prayed for the country’s permanent riddance from the economic problems.