ISLAMABAD– Minister for Planning, Development and Special
Initiatives Asad Umar said on Monday the Indian media celebrated Nawaz
Sharif’s anti-state institutions address at the opposition’s all
parties conference (APC).
Nawaz Sharif, he said, attacked almost all the state institutions,
including the Pakistan Army and the National Accountability Bureau
(NAB).
Asad Umar was addressing here a press conference flanked by Minister
for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Minister for Information and
Broadcasting Shibli Faraz, and Minister for Science and Technology
Chaudhry Fawad Hussain.
Asad Umar said the APC was given an extraordinary coverage by the
Indian media, which manifested the fact that the enemy states were
disturbed over Pakistan’s journey towards economic and political
stability.
He said Pakistan’s armed forces had rendered a lot of sacrifices to
make the country secure and peaceful. Some 150 army troops laid down
their lives during the current year only. The erstwhile Federally
Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) were now peaceful while the situation
in Karachi was far better.
He said a special development package was unveiled recently for the
port city and another one would be announced for Balochistan by Prime
Minister Imran Khan soon.
The minister said Imran Khan had been advocating the solution of
Afghan crisis through talks since long, which had now been accepted by
the international powers and negotiations were underway to restore
peace in that country.
He said the enemies did not want Pakistan coming out of the crises and
moving fast on the path to development, and the opposition was working
on their agenda.
Asad Umar said the government and the Pakistan Army were working
together for the country’s development, and they were handling all the
crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, locusts etc in close
coordination.
He said the prime minster had repeatedly told the nation that the
opposition’s politics of stealing the public wealth was at stake and
they would get together to save the looted money. The APC
proved what the PM had predicted, he added.
The minister said it was an irony that the opposition did not talk
about the the global issue of COVID-19. The incumbent government’s
successes in controlling the pandemic were being commended across the
world.
About the legislation related to the Financial Action Task Force, he
said the law was aimed at bringing the country out of the FATF’s grey
list. There should have been no politicking over it, but the
opposition tried to blackmail the government for an NRO (National
Reconciliation Ordinance) in return for getting the relevant bills
passed from the Parliament.
He said since they had failed in their attempts to get an NRO and were
in panic particularly after the passage of anti-money laundering bill,
they were now using various tactics to pressurize the government.
To a question, the minister said the CPEC Authority was being
supervised by a best officer and under his supervision the China
Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects were moving forward fast.— HANDOUT
