Govt to implement five-year roadmap for economic progress: FM Dar

Minister for Foreign Affairs Ishaq Dar Saturday said the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would implement a five-year roadmap to put Pakistan on the road of economic progress and bring down inflation to lessen the economic difficulties of the common man.

Addressing a press conference here after attending the Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels, he said the 16-month government of Shehbaz Sharif saved Pakistan from economic collapse after the bad policies of the previous government which devastated the economy of the country.

He said Pakistan had a vision for nuclear energy since the 1960s and despite the scrutiny of the world, it continued to harness the benefits of nuclear energy.

“Now the world is saying that nuclear and hydro energy are the safest and best for taking on the challenge of climate change.”

He said the previous governments of Pakistan Muslim League(N) completed various nuclear projects and 3800 megawatts of electricity were added to the national grid.

While representing Pakistan at the recent nuclear energy summit in Brussels, the FM said he called for aggressive financing from the international financial institutions and multilateral institutions.

“Nuclear energy is expensive but is environment friendly and the world needs it. We are ready to share our expertise with the global community,” he added. He said Pakistan was emitting less than one percent of the global carbon emissions but was among the 10 most climate-vulnerable countries in the world.

Pakistan was devastated by the worst floods of its history in the recent past and the federal government in collaboration with the provinces spent Rs 100 billion on the relief and rehabilitation of flood-affected people. He said on the sidelines of the nuclear energy summit, he held bilateral meetings with the foreign ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan, and UAE and the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

During meetings with the foreign ministers of Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Azerbaijan, they agreed to enhance cooperation in areas of trade, investment, defence, and economy.

During the meeting with the Turkish Foreign Minister, “we agreed to enhance our bilateral trade volume”.

The minister said he had a productive meeting with the Director General of IAEA who had visited Pakistan at the inauguration of C5 nuclear power project.

He said during his meeting with the Foreign Minister of UAE, they agreed to enhance cooperation in the field of nuclear energy.

He also held a substantive meeting with the Chinese Vice President and exchanged views on diverse areas of cooperation and he agreed to visit Pakistan in the future, he added.

China was an all-weather friend of Pakistan who supported Pakistan on all issues and at international forums, he remarked.

He also told about his meetings with ministers of the United Kingdom, during which it was agreed that the UK government would further invest in development projects in Pakistan.

He expressed best wishes for King Charles and Princess of Wales who were diagnosed with cancer.

To a question about Congressional hearings in the United States about matters related to Pakistan, he urged that Pakistanis should leave behind politics when they were outside the country and get united.

He said the leadership in Afghanistan should condemn the terrorist attacks in Pakistan which were carried out by the Tehreek i Taliban Pakistan based in Afghanistan.

“We carried out an intelligence-based anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan against the terror group,” he said.

He said neighbouring countries should eliminate terrorism through cooperation. Responding to a question, he said Pakistan needed to get out of the trap of budget deficit and current account deficit.

He said economic diplomacy was a top priority of the government and the new finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb had all the expertise to deal with the economic issues of Pakistan.

The minister said the government was trying its best for the resumption of flights of Pakistan International Airlines after meeting all the international requirements for compliance. “We are keen for the resumption of PIA flights and it is a matter of weeks after which flights will be initiated.”

He said relations between Pakistan and India faced a setback after India revoked the constitutional and legal status of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019. “We will seriously look into matters of trade with Pakistan,” he added. He said he would also look into the complaints about the closure of social media platform X in Pakistan.

Pakistan has called for enhanced international cooperation, including technical assistance and the provision of financial assistance by multilateral financial institutions, to ensure the energy security of developing countries.

Addressing the Summit, the Foreign Minister highlighted Pakistan’s achievements in peaceful uses of nuclear technology particularly in the generation of electricity.

According to the statement of the Foreign Office, Dar underscored the importance of nuclear energy to address the challenges of climate mitigation and adaptation. He stressed that as a country severely affected by climate change and climate-induced disasters, Pakistan was keen to diversify its energy mix with low-carbon energy sources.

The Foreign Minister called for enhanced international cooperation, including technical assistance and the provision of financial assistance by multilateral financial institutions, to ensure the energy security of developing countries.