Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin has said that since European Union and America are our export markets, the prime minster must not have condemned the EU in his public address.
Speaking at a presser here on Wednesday, the minister said that though no compromise could be made on Pakistan’s sovereignty and Prime Minister Imran Khan had every right to defend it ‘but he should not condemn the EU in a public rally’. As the European Union and America are big buyers of our export items, he added.
Imran Khan during a public rally in Mailsi on Sunday responded to a letter written by representatives of the EU, in which they asked Pakistan to condemn Russia’s “unprovoked attack” on Ukraine.
Shaukat Tarin said Prime Minister should not have reacted “publicly” against the European Union where he lashed out at the bloc’s ambassadors for their “undiplomatic” statement asking Pakistan to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. In response to a question by a journalist who asked if the PM’s comments could have a negative impact on Pakistan’s trade with the bloc, the finance minister said, “I don’t think we should worry about what they [EU] will do.”
“He just reacted publicly, which may be, he should not have done,” the minister added. He maintained that Pakistan had an independent foreign policy .
