Pakistan should focus on economic progress, not defence: Nawaz
Premier says the country is well-equipped to defend itself militarily.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. PHOTO: NNI
LAHORE:
Acknowledging that Pakistan is well-equipped to defend itself militarily, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said the country should instead concentrate on economic progress.
The premier was addressing a gathering organised to mark the Youm-e-Takbeer. On this day in 1998, Pakistan became world’s seventh nuclear power.
“What kind of nuclear power are we if we are still engulfed in darkness instead of light; we have illiteracy instead of education, we have more unemployed people than those with jobs and more terrorism and less peace,” the prime minister remarked.
PM Nawaz said his government has been working hard from the very first day to ensure that people eventually have access to uninterrupted power supply. “We will not stop until we get rid of the curse of load-shedding from this country,” he said.
Hopeful about ending the power crisis soon, the premier said his government is in talks with the Chinese leadership to set up more power plants to meet the country's energy demands.
“It is a big achievement that we have laid foundation of various power plants in less than a year since we came to power,” Prime Minister Nawaz pointed out.
The premier remarked that he was not just responsible to bridge the current demand and supply gap but also responsible for ensuring that electricity requirement for the next 20 years were met as well.
PML-N's achievements
Referring to the hardships that the PML-N government had to face since it won the May 11 general elections last year, the prime minister remarked that the treasury of the government was empty when it came into power and the banks did not have enough capital. He added that they had to take China’s help for the progress of the country.
The premier also said that the coal reserve in Tharparkar had the capacity to generate thousands of megawatts (MW) of electricity, even more than 0.1 million MW and therefore, the federal government was making use of it.
Proud of his government, Nawaz stated that a dam larger than Tarbela and Mangla is being constructed in the country as well.
According to Nawaz, some of the major achievements of the PML-N government include the appreciation of rupee against the US dollar, the 3G-4G spectrum auction which will “generate 0.9 million jobs”, GSP Plus status approved by the European Union which will “hopefully increase our textile exports to around $1 billion”.
The prime minister also said that revenue collected in taxes was expected to increase by 16% this year.
Ensuring the public that his government will utlitise taxpayer money efficiently, Nawaz said that he will not let a single penny be wasted.
Acknowledging that Pakistan is well-equipped to defend itself militarily, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said the country should instead concentrate on economic progress.
The premier was addressing a gathering organised to mark the Youm-e-Takbeer. On this day in 1998, Pakistan became world’s seventh nuclear power.
“What kind of nuclear power are we if we are still engulfed in darkness instead of light; we have illiteracy instead of education, we have more unemployed people than those with jobs and more terrorism and less peace,” the prime minister remarked.
PM Nawaz said his government has been working hard from the very first day to ensure that people eventually have access to uninterrupted power supply. “We will not stop until we get rid of the curse of load-shedding from this country,” he said.
Hopeful about ending the power crisis soon, the premier said his government is in talks with the Chinese leadership to set up more power plants to meet the country's energy demands.
“It is a big achievement that we have laid foundation of various power plants in less than a year since we came to power,” Prime Minister Nawaz pointed out.
The premier remarked that he was not just responsible to bridge the current demand and supply gap but also responsible for ensuring that electricity requirement for the next 20 years were met as well.
PML-N's achievements
Referring to the hardships that the PML-N government had to face since it won the May 11 general elections last year, the prime minister remarked that the treasury of the government was empty when it came into power and the banks did not have enough capital. He added that they had to take China’s help for the progress of the country.
The premier also said that the coal reserve in Tharparkar had the capacity to generate thousands of megawatts (MW) of electricity, even more than 0.1 million MW and therefore, the federal government was making use of it.
Proud of his government, Nawaz stated that a dam larger than Tarbela and Mangla is being constructed in the country as well.
According to Nawaz, some of the major achievements of the PML-N government include the appreciation of rupee against the US dollar, the 3G-4G spectrum auction which will “generate 0.9 million jobs”, GSP Plus status approved by the European Union which will “hopefully increase our textile exports to around $1 billion”.
The prime minister also said that revenue collected in taxes was expected to increase by 16% this year.
Ensuring the public that his government will utlitise taxpayer money efficiently, Nawaz said that he will not let a single penny be wasted.