- Nawaz says his dream of regional connectivity, economic interaction finally taking shape
- ‘I am keen to resolve Kashmir issue and India must put an end to atrocities against Kashmiris’
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said that the nation had given him mandate for a full five-year term, had faith in him and firmly believed in his development-oriented policies.
Talking to the journalists accompanying him on his two-day visit to Tajikistan, he said that the people would again vote his party into power in 2018, as they were aware of his ability to deliver and bring about a change in their lives. When asked about the ongoing questioning by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) of his family members, he said that there was nothing to fear as “our hands are clean.”
“What are the allegations against me? Have I looted the national exchequer? Have I done some corruption or got kickbacks,” he questioned. He said that the accountability was being held of a person who made this country a nuclear power. He regretted that his family business matters were being exploited for political gains.
He said that conspiracies had been hatched against his government time and again and expressed optimism that this time too his opponents would fail miserably. “I have never accepted defeat. We faced the 2014 sit-in and another round in 2016 and will InshaAllah sail through this crisis too,” he maintained.
The prime minister said that his family had been victimised by Pervez Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto, while their units were also nationalised in 1972 and not a single penny was given. “Yet we are being held accountable,” he pointed out. Regarding his visit to Tajikistan, he said it had opened up new vistas of cooperation with the Central Asian Republics.
He said that his dream of regional connectivity and economic interaction were finally taking shape. He said that he had a positive interaction with the leaders of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan. He said that there was a vast scope of investment by Pakistani investors in Tajikistan as the country needed infrastructure and industrial units to strengthen its economy.
He said that Pakistan also provided the shortest possible route to the Central Asian Republics to the sea and rest of the world. However, he added that without peace and stability in Afghanistan little progress could be made and the region could remain in turmoil.
He said that Pakistan had always made earnest efforts for improvement in ties with all its neighbours and was particularly keen for better relations with Afghanistan as their economic prosperity were closely linked. He said that during his talks he also apprised about the gross human rights violations in the Indian-held Kashmir.
He pointed to the martyrdom of over 100 people in the recent months by the occupational forces. He also spoke of the over 200, who had been a victim of the pellet guns. The prime minister said that he had always been at the forefront in his desire for resolution of the lingering Kashmir issue with India and recalled that he initiated dialogue with former Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in 1999.
He said that he had called upon India to put an end to the atrocities against innocent Kashmiris.
