Imran Khan was speaking at the closing plenary session of the 8th Sustainable Development Conference organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute. PHOTO: FACEBOOK
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan has said only the normalisation of relations between Pakistan and India can deescalate military tensions between the two neighbouring countries.
He was speaking at the closing plenary session of the 8th Sustainable Development Conference organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) on Thursday.
Imran said political, economic and social integration of the entire region would help reduce poverty in South Asia, which was home of millions of vulnerable populations.
SDPI Executive Director Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri said that sustainable development goals could be achieved through peace and integration. “This is the only way to achieve development agenda in the region,” he said.
He added that media could create immediate positive hype but its approach was pessimistic. He believed South Asian women lawmakers could play a major role in bringing about a change in the political mindset.
The SDPI’s Shafqat Kakakhel said there was no regional arrangement for water management although there were many bilateral agreements for trans-boundary water management.
“All agreements so far have not resolved the issues because of India’s attitude as it has not listened to other riparian,” he said.
PTI seeks compensation for drone strike victims
The PTI chief has announced taking up the issue of compensation of drone strike victims to parliament.“We will raise voice for compensation of the victims of drone attacks in parliament and also approach the courts if needed,” Imran said while addressing a seminar on ‘international Failure to Redress Pakistani Victims of US Drone Attacks” organised by the Foundation for Fundamental Rights and Reprieve.
The US, he said, established a $40-million fund for civilian victims of drone attacks but it has never accepted that civilians have been killed in its campaigns.
Imran referred to a statement of Admiral Mullen that drone attacks were carried out after Pakistani government’s permission and deplored that no one was raising voice against it.
He claimed there had been 400 attacks during President Obama’s tenure, in which 4,000 people, including 200 children, have been killed.
The US admitted civilian casualties for the first time when hostages were killed in an attack.
Meeting with Mengal
The PTI chairman also held a meeting with Sardar Akhtar Mengal and accepted his invitation to attend an All Parties Conference (APC) on Balochistan’s concerns about China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Addressing the media later, Imran once again urged the government to come clean over the corridor route and tell the truth.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 11th, 2015.
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