Abbasi wins plaudits for ‘bold stance’ at UN

Cabinet discusses steps to eradicate load-shedding by November this year

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said Pakistan wants continued engagement with regional and international powers ‘based on mutual respect, equality and partnership’.

PM Abbasi said this on Tuesday while chairing a meeting of federal cabinet that appreciated the premier for ‘his bold stance’ and forceful presentation of Pakistan’s case before the international community at the recently held session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

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According to an official statement issued after the meeting, the PM apprised the cabinet about his visit to US where he ‘forcefully’ presented Pakistan’s point of view on critical issues including that of Kashmir, terrorism, Afghanistan and Rohingya.

The premier, in his maiden speech at UNGA on Sep 22, asked India to call off its campaign of ‘arming and bankrolling’ agents of terrorism and chaos in Pakistan but renewed offer for dialogue with New Delhi on all thorny issues, especially over the core dispute of Kashmir.

The PM also briefed the cabinet about his bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the UNGA session, particularly his meetings with the US vice president, presidents of Iran and Turkey, prime minister of Sri Lanka, king of Jordan, UN secretary general and heads of the World Bank and World Economic Forum.

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He told his cabinet that during these meetings he emphasised that “Pakistan wants a continued engagement with regional as well as international powers based on mutual respect, equality and partnership.”

The PM said he underscored the need for the international community to appreciate and acknowledge the huge sacrifices and contributions made by Pakistan for regional peace and stability, the statement said, adding that federal cabinet appreciated the premier for his bold stance and forceful presentation.

The cabinet also discussed the steps of the government to eradicate load shedding by November this year. Sources said the PM decided to make the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCE) more effective the way it was during the tenure of deposed PM Nawaz Sharif who chaired the meetings of CCE on a regular basis and got updates on progress to eliminate load shedding.

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The secretary power division gave a detailed presentation on the current and future demand and supply situation of the power sector. The cabinet was informed that the present government would add more than 11,500 MW of electricity into the system by June 2018.

More than 6,100 MW has already been added to the system by June 2017, he said. The cabinet was further informed that by November of this year, load-shedding would be reduced to negligible level. Steps taken to improve transmission and distribution system were also discussed.

Taking up scheduled agenda items, the cabinet approved five years extension of the lease contract of Saindak Copper Gold project. This contract was signed between Saindak Metals Limited and Metallurgical Corporation of China and their existing lease agreement is going to expire on Oct 31.

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The cabinet approved issuance of policy directive to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) under Section 8 of the PTA (Reorganisation) Act, 1996 to enable market testing of 5-G technology within the regulatory environment and ensure that the new technology is ready for the market.

It approved appointment of Rizwan Mir as the chief executive officer of the Universal Service Fund under the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication.

The cabinet, on the recommendation of the Defence Ministry, approved appointment of Air Commodore Shams-ul-Haq as member commercial and Air Commodore Aamir Habib Ullah Maken as member technical of board of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) at Kamra.

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The cabinet also accorded approval for appointment of Raja Pervaiz Akhter, district and sessions judge, as a Judge of Special Court (Control of Narcotics Substances) in Rawalpindi, on the recommendation of the Lahore High Court (LHC).

It also appointed Rai Nazir Ahmed, district and sessions judge, as the Judge Banking Court-II in Lahore. The cabinet approved a proposal by the Finance Division that would enable the Auditor General of Pakistan to sign an MoU with its Indonesian counterpart on cooperation in public sector auditing.

To expedite process of development, the cabinet approved a proposal to amend guidelines regarding implementation of projects under the PM’s Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Achievement Programme. Now the competent forum would be authorised to approve schemes costing over Rs30m.

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The cabinet also ratified decisions of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) taken in its meeting on August 29. It also ratified decision taken by the Cabinet Committee on Energy during its meeting dated September 6.

The cabinet also approved a proposal allowing persons with physical or hearing, speech or visual impairment to compete in the competitive examination of all occupational groups/services.