Vows to protest national interests
Prime Minister Imran Khan, while announcing to share the contents of the ‘conspiracy letter’ with allied parties and journalists, Wednesday said Pakistan’s refusal to bow before foreign dictation led to the “foreign imported crisis”.
“This is a foreign imported crisis. This is a conspiracy from abroad. The people, who used to control Pakistan and get their demands accepted, just on phone call, against Pakistan’s national interests, cannot tolerate, or not in a habit of having a government in Pakistan making decisions in the country’s interests,” the prime minister said addressing the inauguration ceremony of e-passport here.
He said he would share the document on conspiracy with top journalists to satisfy the people thinking it as a “drama”.
“The people think this is a drama going on. This is not a drama. As we just wanted to protect our national interests, that is why we cannot disclose as which people threatened us. As the people doubt as Imran Khan wanted to protect his government, so I decided to share it with the top journalists,” he added.
The prime minister said some people were unintentionally becoming a part of the conspiracy.
“I will also invite a representative from allied parties and share (letter) with them. I will tell them this document is real. This is a conspiracy even bigger than what I am saying. This is clear in the document,” he commented. The prime minister questioned whether Pakistan got any single benefit of jointing the war against terror led by a country, which even did not appreciate.
He said after joining the US-led war, Pakistan suffered huge human and economic loss, and the people lost their limbs and suffered paralysis, particularly those from tribal area, due to drone attacks. Around 3.5 million people were displaced and the alms-givers turned into alms-seeker over night. “This is because we sacrificed in our nation interest to protect someone else’s interest.” He said the independent foreign policy was meant to keep the country’s own interests above.
He said the allied parties would be independent to make their own decision, but while doing so, they should keep in mind whether they were becoming part of an international conspiracy against Pakistan.
Calling the no-confidence motion a genuine political method, the prime minister said the political crisis was usual in the parliamentary democracies as sometime the political parties lost the confidence of the people.
The prime minister said the use of technology had eased the people’s lives, besides curbing the corruption.
He said 22 years ago, Shaukat Khanum Hosdpital introduced paperless working, which made a huge difference by doing away with petty corruption and bringing about transparency.
He said the road contracts involved huge corruption and exemplified the construction of roads by the incumbent government in 2021 with the cost of Rs 230 million per kilometer lower than the contract agreements of 2013.
He said as per estimates, Rs 1,000 billion was siphoned off from the road projects.
Imran Khan lauded the overseas Pakistanis for supporting the national economy through their record $31 billion remittances amidst skyrocketing oil prices. He said the expatriates deserved to be given maximum facilitation at airports and other departments. Appreciating the Interior Ministry and the National Databases and Registration Authority (NADRA), the prime minister said the e-passport would not only help end queues at the airports but also ensure security. It would also help promote tourism, which, besides remittances, was the other solution to bridge the trade gap, he added.
