India using Afghan soil to hamper CPEC: interior minister

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  • Ahsan Iqbal dismisses PPP accusations that ruling party is seeking another NRO

 

QUETTA: Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal Thursday said neighbouring country India was using Afghanistan soil for hatching conspiracies against China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and spending millions of dollars for nefarious designs against Pakistan.

Talking to newsmen after inaugurating an Executive Passport Office in Quetta, the minister said Indian spy Kulbhushan Jhadav had revealed these conspiracies against Pakistan and confessed to his involvement in various terrorist activities.

He further said that the recent attack on a church in Quetta was also the result of infiltration from across Afghan border.

The minister asked political parties to show unity and unison, instead of opting for politics of agitation to deal with conspiracies against the country. “There’s a need to empower the democratic system in order to strengthen the country’s economy,” he added.

Iqbal said that political instability and leg-pulling strategies would always lead towards a weak economy, adding that the nation should demonstrate unity to deal with the challenges being faced by the country.

The minister also called upon Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Tahirul Qadri to work for the country’s development, saying, “We also invite Tahirul Qadri to play his role in planning for the country’s development and stability during the All-Parties Conference on December 30, rather than planning an agitation.”

The country’s enemies, the minister said, wanted to weaken Pakistan, and the politics of agitation would further the foreign agenda against the country.

Rejecting the Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) accusation on the incumbent government for seeking one more NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance), the minister said, “We are going towards country’s prosperity and restoration of peace.”

The minister said that the crime rate in Karachi and Balochistan had reduced significantly following the concrete steps taken by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) government to achieve this target during the last four years.

The interior minister expressed the optimism that parliament would complete its five-year tenure in the coming months which would ultimately strengthen the democratic system and increase the respect of the country in the international community.

Iqbal said the incumbent government was taking measures for human resource development and provision of higher education to the country’s youth on a priority basis. He added that the Higher Education Commission (HEC) was establishing new educational institutions in Balochistan and announcing scholarships for students to promote education in the province.

The minister said the PML-N government had allocated huge funds for the development of Balochistan and construction of one thousands kilometres of roads.

The old project of Gwadar-Quetta Highway had been implemented while work on Gwadar-Khuzdar and Ratu Dero Road was underway, he added.

The minister said the natural resources of the province would be fully utilised after the construction of a network of roads in Balochistan. He said that 40 new dams in Balochistan would be constructed under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) projects despite the passage of the 18th amendment to the constitution.

The minister said the government was also taking measures to improve groundwater table in the province that would help boost the agriculture produces. He also said that the Khuzdar Engineering University was being updated and a medical college was being established in the Gwadar University.

The minister said the CPEC had started to give its results as 80 per cent investments had been allocated for power projects, saying Indian propaganda against it had failed.

The CPEC, Iqbal said, would emerge as a long-lasting partnership and all countries of the region would participate in it.

To a question, the minister said Pakistan had shown a big heart by arranging a meeting of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jhadav with his family, but the neighbouring country violated the ceasefire agreement along the Line of Control (LoC) the same day.

High moral grounds were not Pakistan’s weakness, he said, adding that the country had no tolerance for the killer of its citizens.

About the establishment of the Executive Passport Office in Quetta, the minister said modern facilities had been introduced in it which would help citizens get their passports in an easy manner.

The minister said the government had set up this office in accordance with the international standards which would be capable to issue 160 passports in a day.

Modern facilities had been introduced in this office that would help end queues, he said, adding a separate counter had also been set up to facilitate women applicants.

5 COMMENTS

  1. Yes it will remain solely as a testament of China-Pak friendship and nothing else, now China is thinking of linking chabahar, and on the eastern side of India major next gen developing countries would be linked via a trade route connecting China ,India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, etc
    Pakistan must stop interfering into other and interfere on its own and don’t try to draw comparison because Pakistan is comparable to nothing

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