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FM urges major powers not to make war-on-terror controversial
June 23, 2023

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has urged major powers not to make the war on terrorism controversial and a victim of their geopolitics.  

Speaking in the National Assembly on Friday, on the joint statement issued after a meeting between the US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said the international community should take this menace seriously as it is only through collective efforts the scourge can be eliminated from the face of the earth.

He regretted that the focus of the world has shifted from terrorism to Ukraine conflict.

The Foreign Minister said Pakistan is the biggest victim of terrorism and we have suffered more casualties than any other country of the world.

He said it is in the interest of Pakistan to eliminate terrorism and extremism for peace, stability and prosperity of its own people.

Regarding trials of civilians in military courts, the Foreign Minister said those involved in attacking the military installations and the memorials of martyrs do not deserve any leniency.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has assured to take a firm action against those involved in the illegal business of human trafficking.

Speaking in the National Assembly on the recent boat capsizing incident near the coast of Greece wherein Pakistani migrants also lost lives, he said a high level inquiry committee has been constituted which will suggest different recommendations including amendments in the legislation to ensure conviction of the human traffickers.

He said at present a crackdown is underway to nab those behind the tragic boat accident near the coast of Greece.

The Interior Minister informed the House that around 350 Pakistani migrants were aboard the boat.  He said twelve Pakistanis survived the tragedy.

He said 82 bodies of those aboard the boat have so far been recovered and their identification process is underway with the help of the forensic and NADRA data.

The Interior Minister said special desks have been established to contact the affected families so far 281 families have contacted these desks.

He said 193 DNA samples have so far been collected to complete the identification process.

Besides, the Interior Minister said that those involved in attacking military installations and desecrating martyrs’ memorials must be brought to justice.

He said the nation has no sympathies with the gangsters involved in the May 9 incidents and wants them to be brought to justice.

Rana Sanaullah said the decision of the Supreme Court bench, hearing the petitions against trials of civilians in military courts, should be in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Pakistan.

The Chair directed the power Distribution Companies (DISCOs) to carry out load shedding as per the schedule, saying strict action will be taken on unannounced outages.

He gave the ruling following MNA Noor Alam Khan alluded to the problems faced by the people due to load shedding in the scorching heat.

In his remarks on the occasion, Minister for Education Rana Tanveer Hussain said the previous government of PML-N brought the power outages to Zero by installing several power plants. 

He regretted that the PTI government in its tenure halted the progress on new power plants. He said more electricity has been added to the system over the last one year because of the efforts of the present government.

Minister for Water Resources Syed Khursheed Shah said the country cannot afford expensive electricity.

He said we will have to focus on exploiting the potential of coal, hydel, wind and solar to produce cheap electricity. 

The Minister emphasized for enhanced allocation for hydro power projects saying it will put the country on the path of development.

Later, the House was adjourned to meet on Saturday at 11:00 am.