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Dictatorship eras breed terrorism: PM
APPISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday said that the periods of dictatorship led to breed terrorism and extremism in Pakistan, but now the democratic government was taking steps to eradicate this menace.
He said that terrorism had to be eliminated from the country. He was talking to Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) MNAs from Gujranwala, Sialkot, Narowal, Hafizabad and Gujrat during a meeting here at the PM House. The prime minister said that the 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. He 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 such efforts had failed, they started the operation which dismantled terrorists’ network and destroyed their hideouts. For this purpose, a 20-point agenda had been agreed upon by all political parties and was being implemented as National Action Plan, he said.
He further observed that the successful holding of Pakistan Day parade in a peaceful environment reflected that peace achieving efforts of the government were going successful. Referring to his recent visit to Sialkot, the prime minister said that the 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 that the motorways were being constructed across Pakistan to bring people closer to each other, which helped in generating more businesses and job opportunities. He informed that they were planning construction of a highway from Khunjerab to Gwadar with the Chinese cooperation, adding the Gwadar would be made an international port and an international city.
The prime minister said that the government inherited the energy problem, but they were moving towards a solution despite the limited resources. To meet power shortage, LNG-based power plants were being set up through PSDP funding which would generate 3600 MW of electricity, he said, adding, in addition to it, negotiations were underway for the import of electricity from China. The prime minister said that 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. He also emphasised that corruption at any level and in any department would not be tolerated and anybody involved in the 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 take maximum benefit out of this. “We are working to reduce inputs of agricultural products,” he said. Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif, Minister for Commerce Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan, Minister of State for CADD Usman Ibrahim and Minister of State for National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar were present during the meeting, said a press release.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk