‘Cumulative debt has crippled national economy’

Punjab governor says govt has to rein in imports to pay back foreign loans

LAHORE: “The cumulative build-up of debt and a stubbornly high trade deficit has crippled national economy,” said Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar. He expressed these views while speaking to a group of journalists at the Governor’s House on Thursday.

The government has to rein in imports to pay back foreign loans and avoid defaulting, he stated. The entire nation has to make sacrifices for the previous government’s luxury spending. He maintained that the entire country is used to buying imported products; from lead pencils to fruit and vegetables, most of the things found in markets are imported.

“We have to shift consumer reliance onto locally produced products,” he stressed. He lamented that Pakistan is the only agricultural economy in the world where citizens prefer to buy imported products instead of local produce.

“Import policies fall within the purview of the Federal government. The government has to curb imports to save the country from the current crisis,” he expressed.

Highlighting the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s initiative to promote religious tourism, Sarwar stated that development works are being completed in Nankana Sahib on a priority basis. “The government aims to complete all development work before the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Devji,” he said. Besides lodging and security, the best possible facilities will be provided to Sikh pilgrims. The government will also install a water filtration plant and plans to introduce ‘Nanak Amrat’, bottled water extracted from Guru Nanak Devji’s well, he added.

The governor revealed that the government also has plans to develop other infrastructure, commercial plazas, hotels and markets at the site to provide Sikh pilgrims with better lodging options and shopping facilities.

Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone for Kartarpur Corridor in November 2018. The government announced the Kartarpur Corridor which would enable pilgrims from India to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahid, the final resting place of the founder of Sikhism, without a visa.

During the foundation stone laying ceremony, Khan promised the Sikh community that his administration would ensure at Kartarpur for pilgrims travelling to celebrate the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Devji.

As per the conceptual plan, the Kartarpur Corridor will be completed in two phases. In the first phase, Pakistan will remodel Gurdwara Complex, construct a border terminal complex, a 4.5 kilometre secure access road, an 800 metre bridge over River Ravi and parking spaces.

In the second phase after evaluating the flow of the pilgrims, hotels and other necessary facilities will be developed. The prime minister has announced that the government will also make arrangements to host 10,000 Sikh pilgrims in temporary camps on the Guru Nanak Devji’s birth anniversary which will be celebrated in November 2019.

Sikh pilgrims will visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib on a special permit during the prescribed hours. Following biometric identification and security clearance, they will be able to freely perform their religious rituals and return to their country after biometric screening.

Once this corridor project is completed, Sikh pilgrims will be able to save a lot of time and travel without any hassle as the site is a little over four kilometres from the international border between Pakistan and India. Earlier, Sikh pilgrims had to travel to Lahore and reach Gurdwara Darbar Sahib after completing a journey of 120 kilometres from Lahore to Nankana Sahib. Sikh pilgrims coming from other countries can land at Lahore and Sialkot international airports and reach Gurdwara Darbar Sahib from the old route.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28^th, 2019.