Miftah Ismail hints at importing edible items from India

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has hinted at importing vegetables and other edible items from India after recent floods destroyed crops across the country, ARY News reported on Monday.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Miftah Ismail said that the government can consider importing vegetables and other edible items from India to facilitate people in wake of the destruction of standing crops in Pakistan due to recent floods.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan downgraded its diplomatic and trade relations with India in reaction to New Delhi’s illegal annexation of Occupied Kashmir.

On August 5, India’s BJP government moved a bill in the upper house of the parliament (Rajaya Sabha) to remove Article 370 from the Indian constitution amid opposition members’ protest.

It was later signed by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, stripping the state of Kashmir off its special status and turning it into a Union Territory with the legislature.

Talking to journalists today, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail also criticised Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its leaders for allegedly sabotaging the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

Read More: IMF deal: Shaukat Tarin’s leaked audio surfaces

“Our government put our politics at stake to save the country from bankruptcy,” he said, alleging that the PTI was crossing all its limits just to bring party chairman Imran Khan back in power.

The finance minister also demanded an apology from former prime minister Imran Khan for ‘damaging interest of the country’. “Pakistan’s interest is sacred and above all things,” he added.