ISLAMABAD – Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mehmood Qureshi Wednesday said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government would implement the National Action Plan (NAP) in letter and spirit.
Speaking in the National Assembly, he said the 22-point NAP was approved after national consensus was built in the wake of Army Public School Peshawar tragedy.
He said the opposition had questioned NAP’s implementationon NAP. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) remained in power for four years but it had nothing done to implement NAP, he added.
He said the banned organizations were operating in the country not for last the six months during the tenure of PTI but they had been in existence since the years when the opposition parties Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and PML-N were in government.
He said the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) put Pakistan on the grey list when the PML-N was in government and also on the black list during the tenure of another previous government.
Talking about the present state of the economy, Qureshi said major structural flaws, including fiscal deficit and narrow tax base, were not created in just six months but occurred in the last 40 years.
The minister said the government and the opposition should work together to bring reforms, remove structural changes in economy and build a “Naya Pakistan”.
He thanked PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif for showing solidarity with the people and state of Pakistan in the crisis with India.
The minister invited Bilawal, Shehbaz Sharif and other parliamentary leaders to the Foreign Office to seek their input and had a bipartisan approach on foreign policy.
“This is the time to send the message that the nation is united to defend Pakistan and protect its interests.”
He said Squadron Leader Hassan Siddiqui was a national hero as he shot down the Indian plane. However, the second plane was shot down by Wing Commander Nauman Ali Khan, he clarified while paying tribute to him.
The Foreign Minister said the opposition had stated that the Prime Minister took the risk and prematurely released the Indian captured pilot. The issue of the pilot’s release was discussed and the government released him in the interest of Pakistan.
“We thought that by doing that we will be conveying the message of de-escalation and that message went loud and clear and it was appreciated all over the world. Everybody acknowledged that Pakistan acted responsibly and responded immediately.”
Referring to the statement of Bilawal that Pakistan should have boycotted the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting in Abu Dhabi, Qureshi said he wanted to put on record that the joint sitting of the Parliament debated the pros and cons and passed a unanimous resolution calling for boycott of the OIC session.
Mr Asif Zardari at the floor of the House said Pakistan should engage the OIC but the other view of the major opposition party projected by Khawaja Asif was that Pakistan should protest and abstain from the OIC meeting, he added.
“I accepted decision of the Parliament,” he said, adding officers of the Foreign Office represented Pakistan at the OIC and ably protected interest of the country.
He said Sushma Swaraj was not allowed bashing of Pakistan at the OIC meeting as an arrangement was worked out with OIC members.
A very strongly worded resolution on Kashmir was passed by the OIC, he said, adding for the very first time India was accused of state terrorism from the OIC’s platform.
The minister said, “We achieved both our objectives; respect to the Parliament and protecting Pakistan’s interests at the OIC.”
He said Bilawal in his speech commented on the desire of a section of the society that Prime Minister Imran should be given a Nobel Peace Prize.
However, Imran Khan himself tweeted that he thought that he did not deserve it and only a person who would resolve the Kashmir dispute should be awarded, he added.
