LAHORE - Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that Pakistan’s quest for better ties with India must not be misconstrued as weakness as the aim of this pursuit is to bring people of subcontinent out of poverty.
In a meeting that he held with the civil bureaucracy at the chief minister’s secretariat here, to take the officers into confidence and urge them to better their performance, Imran also talked about foreign affairs.
“Pakistan has great geostrategic importance in the region. The biggest market right now, China, lies right to our north. India, if our relations with them improve, they are the world’s second-biggest market,” he said.
Imran went on to say, “I do hope the arrogance that the Indian leadership has [showed recently] will go away.
“They [probably] have some misunderstanding. When we want friendship, it means we desire to end poverty in the subcontinent. [As with the ushering in of an era of peace], trade will also revive.
“Our gesture should never be misconstrued as weakness. We are a nation that will never take pressure from anyone, be it a global power, lying down. If they [India or the US] hurl any threat, the whole nation stands united to face it till the end.”
Message to bureaucrats
Prime Minister Khan assured the civil servants that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government would never pressure them into doing anything wrong.
He urged them to stick to merit and justice so that they could win back the lost public confidence, and warned them against violating the chain of command.
The primer sought bureaucrats’ help to reform the present administrative system. “We will strengthen you and you will strengthen the nation,” he said.
He told them that they should take present government’s advice as a golden opportunity to do their job professionally as no future government will give them this much freedom.
Imran Khan informed the officers of his determination to completely overhaul the governance systems in the four provinces and the centre.
He stressed the need for de-politicisation of bureaucracy, police reforms and strict implementation of laws.
Talking about police administration, Khan said when this institution got politicised it ceased to exist as a professional force. He added that police would also lose people’s trust if it started taking sides.
He recalled that Pakistan was rated as the best country in the 1960s as far as governance was concerned. “But the politicisation of bureaucracy in the later years destroyed it all,” he observed.
Imran said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police had been reformed by depoliticising it which later had also won the public trust.
He said the PTI had earned double the votes of previous election because the provincial government had reformed the institutions by establishing the meritocracy.
He said it was the police that had rendered huge sacrifices for elimination of terrorism and revival of peace.
The PM told the bureaucrats that the New Pakistan meant new mindset. It aimed at creation of an environment where the common man would be given protection against the influential ones.
Prime minister said that most of Pakistan’s problems stemmed from poor governance and if the governance was improved country could get major investment from abroad.
Talking about his recent foreign visits to Saudi Arabia and UAE, he said he had not gone there for begging but to ask for investment. “But they have made it conditional to good governance and removal of red tape,” he said.
Khan believed it should be the foremost priority of present government to improve governance and to create conducive environment for investment which Pakistan needed the most at the moment.
The PM said civil servants ought to keep their doors open and listen to the grievances of the people. He said that countrywide complaint cells would also be established to listen to people’s complaints against government functionaries. One such cell will also be set up in the PM House, he added.
Khan made a personal request to all police officials to personally visit the police stations under them to ensure that common man got justice.
Referring to the much-talked about Pakpattan incident and two other incidents involving two deputy commissioners, Khan said he was hurt that a police officer and two bureaucrats publicised an issue which should have resolved at the level of IG and the chief secretary.
He questioned which government would allow such a violation discipline to take place. The prime minister termed the two incidents politicization of state’s inner working and warned that such things would not be tolerated again in future.
Action against corruption ordered
Prime Minister Imran Khan during his daylong visit also held a meeting with the Directors of the Punjab Anti-Corruption Department, and he directed them to take indiscriminate action against corruption and expose the corrupt elements.
Chairing the meeting, Imran Khan said that the government was prioritising the revival of public trust in government departments that had been undermined by corruption and bad governance.
He viewed that the corruption was one of the major reasons behind the current economic condition of the country too.
The country had been dragged to the debt-trap by executing some of the projects in the past which were aimed at securing kickbacks instead of public welfare, he said.
The prime minister directed the Anti-Corruption Department to improve its working and assured them of government’s all out cooperation in their crackdown against this menace.
He also directed the department to reform the prosecution system as he desired them to support the poor man who is oppressed everywhere.