Pakistan wants peace in contrary to India, says minister

LAHORE: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has said that Pakistan wants peace in the region in contrary to India, ARY News reported.

He was addressing a gathering at Punjab University in Lahore.

The minister said that Pakistan wants peace in the region but India wants to wage war. He said that ” the hysteria of progress and development” is required in the region instead of the “war hysteria”.

Iqbal said that the the opposition parties’ politics on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is needless. He urged that the $51 billion project should be kept aside from politics, like the country’s nuclear program.

He added that the CPEC projects will completed in a period from 2014-30. The small projects of the Corridor will be operative by year 2020 whereas the larger ones will start working by 2030.

“The construction industry will benefit from CPEC,” the minister said.

Ahsan Iqbal also said that the construction work on Diamer Bhasha Dam will begin in 2017 whereas the Thar Coal Power Project will be completed in the next two to three years.

He said that no government paid attention to the energy sector in the past 15 years.

“We have to rely on multiple sources to meet the energy needs of the country”.

He also said that the construction work of Gwadar-Quetta Road has been completed in this month.