Federal Information Minister Pervez Rashid on Sunday said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) should comply with the decisions made in the All Parties Conference (APC).
He said this while talking to reporters during his visit to the agricultural farmhouse of former Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) director Major (r) Aamir.
Rashid said PTI Chairman Imran Khan should respect the foreign policy as it was vital for the sovereignty and stability of the country. He said that diplomatic issues could not be resolved at roads and it needed developing national consensus to handle the situation.
The minister said that though there were many hurdles in peace dialogues with the banned terrorist outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), but the government would pave the way for the purpose.
He asserted that the PM’s visit to Afghanistan was successful during which important issues relating to regional peace and strategy to be adopted after US withdrawal from the region were discussed with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
He said that all religious and political parties should join hands for national interests instead of rousing the issues which spread hatred and sectarian violence.
Commenting over the PTI move to stop the NATO supplies, he said that the decision was not justified as it was aimed at challenging the writ of the government.
He said that peaceful protest is the constitutional right of every citizen but violation of law could not be allowed.
To a question regarding recent surge in vegetables prices and other food commodities, he said that increase in rates was due to delay in arrival of new crop in market and steps taken by the government in this regard have yielded positive results as prices have started returning to normal.
The minister said that Pakistan wanted good relations with all neighboring countries on equality basis.
He said that cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan in various sectors will help in removing misunderstanding, regional development, generating employment opportunities, eradicating poverty and restoration of peace in the region through economic development.
Rashid was of the view that instead of confrontation, all the countries of the region should sit together to chalk out a joint strategy for bilateral cooperation, development and economic stability.
He said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would soon pay visit to Russia as it is an important stakeholder in the region and have important role in all the regional issues.
The minister clarified that increase in dollar value is due to payment of installments of the loans acquired from International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international institutions.
He said that government wanted to see the industries functional, as livelihood of millions of countrymen was attached with the functioning of factories and industries.
Rashid said that terrorism was not just an issue or headache of any political party but threat for all the countrymen and joint efforts were needed to steer the country out of prevailing crises including menace of terrorism and extremism.
