Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira on Tuesday called upon the youth to play an effective role in steering the country out of multi-dimensional challenges.
Addressing the launch ceremony of the Lahore Chapter of ‘Pakistan’s Leaders of Tomorrow’ and its second summit at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, Kaira said that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had always worked for the empowerment of the youth and was striving to create more job opportunities for them.
‘Pakistan’s Leaders of Tomorrow’ had been organised by the Ministry of Information on the initiative of President Asif Ali Zardari to motivate, encourage and interact with the youth of the country on various policy issues.
He said, “We will have to combat the extremist mindset, which is against the education of girls. Malala Yousafzai is a symbol of courage and resilience, and she truly represents the true vision of Pakistan.”
The minister said that the present government had introduced major structural changes in the country, including constitutional reforms and devolution of powers. He said that the president had voluntarily shifted his powers to the parliament and the provinces and there was a need to devolve powers to the district level.
The minister said that one of the biggest challenges faced by the country was terrorism and extremism. The armed forces and security forces were fighting against terrorists but there was a need to wage war against the extremist mindset.
Apprising the youth about Pakistan’s relations with other countries and the country’s stance on different international issues, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said that the youth was the future of the country and they should pursue a positive and constructive framework to improve the image of Pakistan in the comity of nations.
She said that the government was pursuing a policy of peace and reconciliation with all its neighbours as security was a pre-requisite for progress and development. She said that there had been a major difference in Pakistan’s relations with India and Afghanistan. The success of Pakistan’s foreign policy was evident from its election to the UN Security Council and Human Rights Council.
She said that this showed that the world had faith and confidence in what Pakistan was doing in administrative and legal domains to safeguard and promote human rights. She said that Pakistan was also an active member of many regional and economic organizations, including SAARC, ECO and D-8.
Benazir Income Supports Programme (BISP) Chairperson Farzana Raja said that PPP believed in the genuine empowerment of women and had taken a number of steps in this regard.
She said that around seven million families had benefited from BISP, which had helped empower women.
Highlighting steps taken by the government to check incidents of terrorism, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that the backbone of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan had been broken, due to which incidents of suicide attacks had come to a halt.
He said that local and foreign elements wanted to fuel sectarian and ethnic violence to destabilize the country, but they would not be allowed to succeed in their nefarious designs.
He said that credit went to the present government for introducing the 3-D policy to ensure peace and security in the country.
Minister Water and Power Ahmad Mukhtar informed the youth about steps taken to cope with the energy crisis. He said that there were a number of factors behind the prevailing energy crisis and a comprehensive strategy had been implemented to address the problems on short, medium and long terms.
The minister said that Pakistan was bestowed with hydro-electric potential of 60,000 MW, most of which could be tapped. Similarly, the country had 185 billion tonnes of coal in Thar. He said that hydro, coal and alternative energy resources were being exploited to reduce and overcome the gap between demand and supply of electricity. He said that the previous government had added nothing to the national grid but the present government had added 3,400 mega watts.
Kaira said that the public sector could not cope with the problem of unemployment on its own, and that was why the government had concentrated on the provision of necessary facilities to the private sector to grow and create more job opportunities.
He said that due to steps taken by the government, the rural economy had improved a lot. He said that the present government had inherited a multitude of problems, including global recession, but its prudent policies had improved the situation.
Kaira said that the government had made all-out efforts to secure borders to tackle the issue of terrorism. Referring to the 1,400 kilometre-long border with Afghanistan, he said that Pakistan had proposed to fence the border but Afghanistan had resisted the move.
