Page 13 - Pakistan Link - July 16, 2021

PAKISTAN JULY 16, 2021 – PAKISTAN LINK – P13
Fawad Reports Breakthrough in Talks Bus Blast Kills 13 Including Chinese,

with Opposition on Electoral Reforms Beijing Blames Bomb Attack

Islamabad: Federal Minister for of the French ambassador from the
Information and Broadcasting country over the publication of blas-
Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Tues- phemous cartoons in a Paris weekly.
day hinted at a breakthrough in ne- In the press briefing, Fawad said

gotiations with the opposition on the law ministry and the attorney
electoral reforms. He claimed the general for Pakistan would approach
two sides had reached an under- the ECP for the cancellation of the

standing on several points and there banned outfit’s election symbol.
was every likelihood of further posi- In response to a query, the min-
tive developments. ister said the matter would also be

The minister said the cabinet taken to the apex court.

was given a detailed briefing on elec- “Gone are the days when par-
tronic voting machines (EVMs), In- ties would reemerge with a different

ternet voting and biometric verifica- name.”

tion of voters. The objective behind Fawad said a review revealed

the introduction of EVMs was to that former prime ministers, chief
bring transparency in the electoral ministers, retired judges, bureau-
system, he informed. crats and members of the opposition
While delivering a policy state- parties had more protocol and secu-

ment on the floor of the house last ment had decided to uphold the ban rity details than the members of the
month Prime Minister Imran Khan on the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan federal cabinet. Using an air ambulance, rescuers took the injured, including Chinese engineers, to
had invited the opposition to sit with (TLP) under the anti-terrorism law He added that rules regarding a hospital in Dasu, about 10 km (6 miles) from the blast site, authorities said
the government on electoral reforms and take the matter to the Supreme the provision of official security and

to hold ‘objection-free’ general elec- Court for its dissolution and the protocol to different people were be- Peshawar: A blast on a bus killed Chinese engineers, to a hospital in

tions. “Time has come that [when] Election Commission of Pakistan ing reviewed and a report would be 13 people in north Pakistan on Dasu, about 10 km (6 miles) from
we contest elections, no one wor- (ECP) for the cancellation of its elec- presented to the prime minister in Wednesday, including nine Chinese the blast site, authorities said.
ries about being defeated through tion symbol. the next cabinet meeting. nationals in what Beijing said was a “Police and the bomb disposal

rigging... We came to one result Among other key decisions, the The minister said the cabinet bomb attack but Islamabad called a squad are at the site,” added regional

— the only solution is EVMs [elec- cabinet also approved a 15% spe- had given approval to a 15% special vehicle failure. official Arif Khan Yousufzai outside

tronic voting machines]. All that cial allowance for the personnel of allowance of the running basic pay Two Pakistani soldiers were the hospital, adding that an inves-
[post-voting] rigging period can be armed forces “to make their salaries of the armed forces personnel. among the dead after the explo- tigation was awaited to ascertain

eliminated if the result comes [im- equal to the civilians”. He added that 10% pay raise sion sent the bus over a ravine, local details.
mediately] after election,” said the It also gave the nod to fixing was given to civilians and armed government and police sources told Pakistan’s foreign ministry said

prime minister said before inviting new prices of 49 medicines. forces last year. However, the civil- Reuters. it was in close contact with the Chi-

the opposition parties to sit with the The cabinet was informed that ians’ salaries were later increased by Chinese engineers and Paki- nese embassy in Islamabad, adding
government to chalk out electoral 85 Pakistanis jailed in Saudi Arabia 25%. stani construction workers have for in a statement: “Pakistan attaches
reforms. were being released on Eidul Adha Fawad said the premier had several years been working on hy- great importance to the safety and
“Our government is ready to and a record 525,000 people were directed that Pakistan Rangers and droelectric projects as part of Bei- security of Chinese nationals, proj-
listen if the opposition has any other vaccinated in the country on Mon- Frontier Constabulary should also jing’s Belt and Road Initiative in the ects and institutions.”
advice regarding the reforms,” the day. be given 15% allowance and in- western province of Khyber-Pak-
prime minister said in his wide- The information minister said structed the authorities concerned tunkhwa, where the blast occurred. Soldiers move from an army

ranging speech on the conclusion of the interior ministry’s report on ex- to take steps for the purpose. China’s embassy in Pakistan helicopter an injured Chinese na-

the federal budget 2021-22 session amining the TLP’s appeal against the The minister disclosed that the confirmed that nine of its nationals tional after a bus fell into a ravine

in the National Assembly. ban on the outfit was reviewed and premier had told the cabinet that died. Terming the explosion a bomb following an explosion, at a military
Addressing a news confer- a conclusion was reached that the 500 million trees would be planted attack but not giving more details, hospital in Gilgit, on July 14. — AFP
ence after a federal cabinet meeting earlier decision, which was based on during the ongoing monsoon sea- the Chinese foreign ministry of- Hours later, the Foreign Office

on Tuesday, Information Minister facts and merits, was correct. son. Referring to a briefing about en- fered condolences and urged both a contradicted reports of an attack,
Fawad Chaudhry said the federal In April this year, the govern- croachments in E-8 and E-9 sectors thorough investigation and protec- saying that the bus “plunged into a
cabinet was informed that the two ment had banned the TLP, follow- of Islamabad, Fawad said PM Imran tion of its personnel and projects. ravine after a mechanical failure re-

sides had reached an understand- ing violent protests by the outfit in had directed all institutions, includ- Pakistan’s foreign ministry said sulting in leakage of gas that caused

ing on several points and there was which some policemen were mar- ing the Pakistan Air Force and the a mechanical failure caused a gas a blast”. The FO also put the death

likelihood of further positive devel- tyred while several others suffered Pakistan Navy, to remove boundary leak which led to the explosion. toll at 12, including 9 Chinese na-
opments. injuries. walls built on the green belt and they However, the province’s top tionals, up from earlier reports of

Fawad also said the govern- The TLP had sought expulsion had already started doing so. police official, Inspector General 10 deaths.

The Chinese foreign ministry
Pakistanis Send Home Record $29.4Bn in One Year Moazzam Jah Ansari, earlier told spokesman, however, condemned
Reuters foul play was suspected.
“Looks like sabotage,” he said. the incident as a “bombing”.

travel in the face of Covid-19 infec- A senior administrative officer Special Assistant to the KP

tions, altruistic transfers to Pakistan of the Hazara region, who asked not Chief Minister on Information Ka-
amid the pandemic, and orderly for- to be named, said the bus was carry- mran Khan Bangash had earlier
eign exchange market conditions,” ing more than 30 Chinese engineers said a high level delegation has left
said the SBP. to the Dasu dam in Upper Kohistan. for Upper Kohistan, adding that of-

Analysts believe the widening The Dasu hydroelectric proj- ficials will shortly inform the people

trade deficit would not allow the ect is part of the China-Pakistan and the media of the ground reali-
country to end fi scal FY21 with cur- Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $65 ties. “The media is advised to avoid

rent account surplus. The current billion investment plan aiming to speculating on the matter,” he said.

account was surplus with $153m link western China to the southern Bangash said a large number

during 11MFY21. The trade deficit Pakistani port of Gwadar. of security officials were deployed

in the 11MFY21 was about $24bn, “This is clearly an act of terror- to protect Chinese nationals. Those

indicating that June would further ism that has been carefully planned who are in critical condition are be-

widen the trade gap. and was supported by information,” ing shifted via helicopter, he said. A

The highest inflows of $7.667bn said an editorial in Global Times, a large number of Rescue 1122 ambu-

in FY21 were from Saudi Arabia Chinese tabloid run by the ruling lances and officials have reached the

compared to $6.61bn in 2019-20, an Communist Party’s official People’s spot, he added.

increase of 16pc compared to 32.2pc Daily, calling it the most serious at- Beijing asks Pakistan to inves-
Karachi: Overseas Pakistanis re- year-on-year growth, which was the growth in the preceding fiscal year. tack on Chinese nationals in recent tigate incident: Meanwhile, China

mitted record $29.4 billion during fastest rate of expansion since FY03. The inflows from Saudi Arabia years. asked Pakistan to thoroughly inves-

2020-21, helping the country meet This growth in remittances alone contributed 26.1pc to the total Chinese working in Pakistan tigate the incident.

its widening trade deficit and expect- helped improve the country’s exter- remittances in FY21. The rising re- have been attacked previously, par- Condemning the attack, Chi-

ed current account deficit in the last nal sector position despite the chal- mittances indicate that the Pakistani ticularly in the south-western prov- na’s foreign ministry spokesman

month of the just-ended fiscal year. lenging global economic conditions workers in that country did not lose ince of Balochistan where separatist Zhao Lijian expressed his “shock
The central bank said that with in the past year, said the State Bank, their jobs due to Covid-19 while an militants have waged an insurgency and condemnation over the bomb-

inflows of around $2.7bn in June adding that the seasonal pre-Eid re- improved mechanism for transfer of against authorities in a state where ing”.

(9pc growth year-on-year) and 8pc lated inflows helped to further boost remittances also facilitated this in- China develops mines and a port. Lijian urged Pakistan to “se-

(month-on-month), workers’ remit- the remittances level during June. crease. The separatists have also at- verely punish the perpetrators“ and
tances continued their unprecedent- “Overall, record high inflows The SBP data showed that the tacked the Chinese consulate in the “earnestly protect the safety of Chi-

ed streak of above $2bn for a record of workers’ remittances during FY21 second highest remittances came southern city of Karachi. Addition- nese nationals, organizations and
13th consecutive month. have been driven by proactive policy from the United Arab Emirates ally, Islamist militants have also pre- projects” in the country.
Data released by the State Bank measures by the government and (UAE) in FY21 growing by 8.9pc to viously targeted Chinese nationals. In a statement, the Chinese
of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday showed SBP to incentivize the use of formal $6.114bn compared to $5.612bn in Using an air ambulance, res- Embassy in Pakistan “strongly con

that remittances posted a 27 per cent channels, curtailed cross-border FY20 when inflows grew by 21.5pc. cuers took the injured, including BLAST, P15
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