LAHORE: National Assembly Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif on Friday demanded an urgent parliamentary investigation into the issue of misuse of the special permission to import life-saving drugs from India.
In a statement, Shehbaz said that Prime Minister Imran Khan was directly responsible for the wheat and sugar scandals. He’s now also accountable for the ‘drug scandal’ because he is holding the portfolio of federal minister for health, he added.
According to a report presented by the Health Ministry to the government, manufacturers and importers had imported 429 active pharmaceutical ingredients, 12 different kinds of vaccines and 59 medicines from India under a special permission. However, the imported drugs included vitamin tablets as well as medicines which are being produced in Pakistan also.
Pakistan banned all kinds of imports from India after New Delhi changed the legal status of Jammu and Kashmir. However, the permission was sought for importing lifesaving drugs in September last year.
Expressing his displeasure over the issue, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday tasked Adviser on Interior Affairs Barrister Shahzad Akbar to probe into the misuse of the import permission.
