KARACHI: Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan and President Pakistan Businessmen Mian Zahid Hussain has said terrorism has become a big threat to Pakistan, its people, and its economy.

The offer of the United States to help Pakistan combat the menace of terrorism should be welcomed, he said.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that Pakistan has already been weakened by irresponsible politicians, and finance ministers who bankrupted the country for artificial growth, coronavirus, floods, inflation, and prolonged political instability.

These problems have weakened the country and it needs help to fight the growing terrorism, he added.

He said that terrorism has become a big challenge; our armed forces are fully capable of meeting this challenge. He said at this critical juncture, the US offer and initiation of negotiations in this regard is very important.

The United States has provided full support to Pakistan during the recent Donors Conference, for which we are grateful to them.

The US also influenced IMF to extend loans to Pakistan and now it should use its clout to finalize the agreement with the lender while the government should immediately implement a series of reforms to revive the economy.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that there was a lot of applause in Pakistan after the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, which soon turned into concern.

Contrary to our expectations, instead of increased relations with the neighbouring country, there was an increase in attacks from its territory which has become a big problem for us.

Pakistan should get full cooperation from America and other nations in this regard and this matter should not be limited to information sharing but should be extended to the operational level so that the terrorists can be effectively tackled.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that apart from the United States, China is also interested in eradicating terrorism because it is a major threat to CPEC but Pakistan should balance its relations with the United States and China according to the national interest.

He said that the Pakistani establishment is getting disappointed with the Taliban government, due to which the thinking about them is changing.

He said Al-Qaeda was a major reason for the removal of the previous government of the Taliban and the TTP is becoming a big threat to the current Taliban government, but the Taliban are unable to control the TTP, so Pakistan is forced to seek support from other sources to get rid of the problem.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023