ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged the nation to pray as the country is expected to get good news in the next three weeks.
Pakistan is expected to get such vast reservoirs of oil and gas from offshore drilling that it will solve most of the country’s economic problems, he told a group of senior journalists here on Thursday.
The Exxon Company is engaged in exploration activity in the Pakistani sea, prime minister informed. He added the experts are hoping to find as much oil and gas as would not only meet country’s own energy needs but Pakistan would also be able to export these fuels to other countries.
As for now, he said that the government cannot sell natural gas at subsidised rates anymore. “We cannot price the gas at Rs50 per kilo after buying it for Rs100 per kilogram, he explained.
But urging the people not to feel upset, he said the nation should start praying as the discovery of vast reservoirs of oil and natural gas is quite imminent in the next few weeks.
Khan blamed the previous governments for country’s bad economic condition. “Did the previous government leave us with any treasures?” he asked the questioners.
He said that people would have been crushed under the burden of inflation if the government had accepted the initial conditions of the International Monetary Fund.
Asked if the tension with India had subsided or danger persists, the prime minister said the ongoing crisis with the neighbouring country is expected to subside if Narendra Modi wins the upcoming Indian election. However, [before that happens,] Modi could resort to some misadventure if he feared BJP’s electoral defeat.
To a related question, the Premier said that banned organisations should have ceased long ago. “We are after them now and will not rest till we eradicate the extremist elements,” he said, adding that fingers are pointed toward Pakistan whenever Jaish-e-Mohammad [or a similar entity] is mentioned.
To a question about the Financial Action Task Force, Prime Minister Khan said the government would act on the recommendations of the task force in a manner that efforts of India to get Pakistan blacklisted would be foiled.