Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and PPP leader Aitzaz Ahsan said the government has failed to ban non-state actors.
Addressing a joint session of the parliament here today, Aitzaz Ahsan demanded to know why Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif did not mention RAW agent Kulbhushan Yadav’s name in his speech at the UN General Assembly last month. “I’m still waiting for the prime minister to bring up names of Indian spies in his addresses,” the senator said.
“The government has been completely unsuccessful in imposing restrictions on non-state actors according to the National Action Plan.”
He implied that such actors continue carrying out protests, rallies and giving speeches in Islamabad, Lahore, Faisalabad and Karachi.
“I don’t want instability in any country, as the blame of that will then fall on us because of these non-state actors,” he said.
Aitzaz Ahsan said there is a general perception among many that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would mostly benefit Punjab.
“People are beginning to think CPEC is in fact ‘China-Punjab’ Economic Corridor and this is not acceptable to us,” he said.
“When you cannot completely implement NAP and then something like this happens, the blame will fall on Pakistan and we will be isolated. Then Bangladesh and Afghanistan will not speak to you, and Bhutan and Nepal will begin supporting India,” he said.
“You have isolated Pakistan,” he said.
The PPP senator held Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif responsible for Pakistan’s diplomatic isolation.
“It used to be that India was alone but now Pakistan is isolated,” Aitzaz said. “If this is not a failure of our foreign ministry, then what is it?” he asked.
The senator said that because the prime minister himself is the foreign minister, Pakistan’s isolation could be seen as Nawaz Sharif’s personal failure.