Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Monday said the enemies could not digest the development in Pakistan, as he promised to foil the efforts made by political rivals and external forces.
He also noted that some forces wanted to disrupt Pakistan-China relations and were working on the nefarious agenda of creating a situation where there could not be any peace in the country.
The minister promised to extend complete security to the Chinese nationals living and working in Pakistan while rooting out the menace of terrorism forever.
Minister Shehbaz Sharif, he said an agreement had been reached on upgradation of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. However, Tarar stressed that political stability was a prerequisite for economic stability, as he criticised those aiming at creating uncertainty in Pakistan.
Tarar told a press conference that no political leader could be bigger than Pakistan with reference to PTI founding chairman Imran Khan, as he questioned the “clean chit” being given through court proceedings.
He said a so-called leader had humiliated Pakistan around the globe, but the things were changing, as Pakistan was a historic juncture leading to development and prosperity.
“All the prisons in Pakistan should be emptied if a clean chit is awarded in 190 million pound mega corruption case, he remarked and also cited the cipher case about which clear evidence is available.
He also defended the Punjab Defamation Act which came into effect on Monday, arguing that the legislation was for everyone.
Tarar wondered if the local TV channels and others could submit apology before courts in other countries, then why the same could not happen in Pakistan.
When asked about the rumours and reports about restricting social media access, the minister quipped that he did see the Great Wall of China but didn’t notice any “firewall”.
He termed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s China visit as historic and highly successful saying it will have positive impact on the country’s economy.
He expressed the confidence that there will be progress on the agreements and projects such as ML-1, Karachi Circular Railway, provision of IT training to two hundred thousand Pakistani youth by a Chinese tech company and the second phase of CPEC in the next few weeks.
He said the upgraded version of CPEC will be mutually beneficial for the peoples of both the countries.
The Information Minister said security of the Chinese nationals is our priority.
Attaullah Tarar said the economy is heading in the right direction with inflation and current account deficit coming down.
He said our foreign exchange reserves are now sufficient for two months of imports.
The Information Minister said the country is also registering successes on the foreign front. Referring to the election of Pakistan on the non-permanent seat
of UN Security Council with a big majority, he said this shows the trust of friendly countries on Pakistan.
