ISLAMABAD - Referring to the successes made by law enforcement agencies in the ongoing operation against militants across the country, Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif said Tuesday that government was taking concrete measures to eradicate the menace of terrorism.
During a meeting with party parliamentarians from Gujranwala, Sialkot, Narowal, Hafizabad and Gujrat at the PM House here on Tuesday, Premier Sharif said periods of dictatorship in Pakistan bred terrorism and extremism in the country and now the democratic government was taking steps to eradicate this menace.
He said situation in Karachi was improving with each passing day.
“This goes to the credit of PML-N government to have taken this decision of starting an operation in the provincial capital against miscreants and terrorists after taking all parties on board,” he said.
The prime minister said before starting Zarb-e-Azb the government made all out efforts to resolve the problem through dialogue and talks, waiting patiently for the results, but when all efforts failed forces started the operation which dismantled terrorists’ network and destroyed their hideouts.
The prime minister said terrorism had to be eliminated from the country. For this purpose, a 20-point agenda had been agreed upon by all political parties and was being implemented as National Action Plan.
The successful holding of Pakistan Day parade in a peaceful environment reflected that peace-achieving efforts of the government were gaining success, he said.
In the backdrop of his recent visit to Sialkot, the prime minister said government had decided to construct a four-lane expressway from Sialkot to Lahore, which would reduce travel time between the cities to around 50 minutes. He said, "We are planning construction of a highway with Chinese cooperation from Khunjerab to Gwadar."
Gwadar would be made an international port and an international city, he said.
The prime minister said, “The government has inherited the energy problem, but we are moving towards a solution despite our limited resources.”
He said to meet power shortage LNG-based power plants were being set up through PSDP funding in Pakistan which would generate 3,600 MW of electricity. In addition, negotiations were under way for the import of electricity from China, he said.
The prime minister said several hydropower, wind and solar projects were also underway, which would generate a total of around 10,000 MW additional electricity to the national grid by the end of 2017.
The prime minister emphasised that corruption at any level and in any department would not be tolerated and anybody involved in corrupt practices would be dealt with an iron hand. He congratulated the nation on a bumper wheat crop expected this year and said measures were being taken to have maximum benefit of that bumper crop. "We are working to reduce inputs of agricultural products," he added.
The prime minister said farmers should get due share of their hard work and approved forming a committee for looking into the matter of agricultural subsidies in different areas according to their specific conditions, for giving recommendations for increasing wheat and rice export, solar-based home water solutions and solar tube-wells. The committee comprises Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan, Sikandar Bosan, Nasir Iqbal Bosal, Daniyal Aziz and MD AEDB and would be headed by Zahid Hamid.
The MNAs informed the prime minister that reduction in the price of diesel and petrol had provided relief to the farming community. Inflation, especially prices of essential commodities, had come down which had been welcomed by the people, they said.
They also apprised the prime minister of matters pertaining to their constituencies especially those relating to agriculture and development.
The prime minister said he would visit the areas of the elected representatives and announce more development projects.
The legislators said that people were highly appreciative of the courageous operation against terrorist elements underway in Karachi which had significantly improved law and order situation in the city. They urged the prime minister that justice be meted out to all those involved in criminal activities in Karachi and other parts of the country.
They regarded Nankana by-election victory as a barometer of government's performance since June 2013 and congratulated the prime minister and the party on this accomplishment.
Participants of the meeting included Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Minister for Commerce Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan, Minister of State for CADD Usman Ibrahim, Minister of State for National Health Services Ms Saira Afzal Tarar as well as MNAs Ch Mahmood Bashir Virk, Mian Tariq Mehmood, Rana Umer Nazir Khan, Azhar Qayyum Nahra, Justice (r) Iftikhar Ahmad Cheema, Mian Shahid Hussain Bhatti, Nawabzada Mazher Ali, Chaudhry Jaffar Iqbal, Nasir Iqbal Bosal, Chaudhry Armaghan Subhani, Rana Shamim Ahmed Khan, Syed Iftikhar ul Hassan, Zahid Hamid, Mian Muhammad Rasheed and Daniyal Aziz, MNA Capt (r) Muhammad Safdar and Political Secretary to PM Dr Asif Kirmani also attended the meeting.