PM Shehbaz vows no compromise on Pakistan’s nuclear program

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday termed the United States (US) sanctions on the National Development Complex (NDC) and other entities as ‘illogical’ and said that Pakistan’s nuclear system is not meant for any aggression but only deterrence.

Addressing the federal cabinet, PM Shehbaz said that Pakistan’s nuclear system is very dear to its 240 million people and they would never make any compromise on it.

The prime minister said that terrorism witnessed a surge in the country during the last few months as in a recent attack, the terrorists killed 17 security personnel and the security forces also eliminated eight of the khwarij.

The cabinet members also offered Fateha for the martyred souls of the security personnel.

Talks with PTI

Speaking on talks with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), PM Shehbaz assured the government’s ‘sincere’ efforts and contributions, expressing the hope that the talks would bring about positive outcomes to promote peace and economic stability in the country.

The prime minister, in his opening remarks at the meeting of the federal cabinet he chaired, said that on the National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq’s initiative, the first round of talks with PTI was held on Monday with the second one scheduled on January 2.

He said the government’s committee comprised Ishaq Dar, Rana Sanaulah, Irfan Siddiqui, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Naveed Qamar, Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Abdul Aleem Khan, Ijazul Haq and Khalid Magsi.

He said the process would meet success only if both parties set aside their likes and dislikes for the sake of national interests.

“I do not doubt anyone’s intentions. I hope both PTI and the government party will bring about the outcomes for the country’s benefits and promote the economic stability” the prime minister said.

“But all these efforts will come to fruition if we promote the national unity and solidarity. This is a good initiative of the National Assembly speaker. We will contribute with sincerity. But it takes two to tango. I hope both parties will play their part to serve the national interests and promote national stability,” the prime minister added.

Highlighting the measures taken by the government for economy revival, he said that the policy rate has recently been dropped to 13 percent, inflation rate dropped to five 5 and remittances are constantly being surged.

Relations with Bangladesh

Referring to his meetings with Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor Dr Yunus, and the presidents of Indonesia and Turkiye on the sidelines of the D-8 Summit in Cairo, PM Shehbaz said Pakistan-Bangladesh ties were entering a new era as the latter had abolished erstwhile 100 percent scanning of Pakistan’s export products and special desk at airports for screening Pakistani passport holders.

He said Pakistan is also reciprocating with positive indicators and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is scheduled to visit Dhaka in February.

He said that in coordination with the provincial governments, all-out resources were being utilised to purge the country of terrorism and reiterated the resolve not to sit idle until the objective is achieved.

The prime minister criticised the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for ‘using’ the resources for the march to Islamabad rather than tackling the problem of the sectarian conflicts in the province.