–Imran says giving Opp NRO would be easy, but ‘disastrous for Pakistan’
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that India is backing Islamic State (IS) in the region to spread chaos in Pakistan by fanning sectarianism.
Interacting with digital media publishers and broadcasters in Islamabad on Sunday, the prime minister said that New Delhi is sponsoring terrorism and sectarianism in the country.
He maintained that India was behind the terror attack in Balochistan. He said that Pakistan’s security agencies successfully pre-empted Indian plots to fan sectarianism.
PM Imran said that it is unfortunate that terrorists targeted Hazara workers in a thin populated area. He said that previous governments did not pay due attention to Balochistan and always preferred to form alliances with Baloch chieftains who became the biggest hurdle in transferring development funds at the grassroots level.
The premier said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has focused on the socio-economic development of Balochistan to uplift the common citizens of the province who are facing extreme poverty.
He claimed that the corrupt opposition leaders had requested him in writing to grant them a national reconciliation ordinance (NRO). He said that he is against giving national reconciliation ordinance (NRO) to those who looted Pakistan’s wealth and plunged the country into the quagmire of debt.
He maintained that his life would be a lot easier if he gives the opposition an NRO, but it would be disastrous for Pakistan. The prime minister said that he had opposed the NRO’s given by the then-president Pervez Musharraf.
The premier stressed that bringing change in the country was a continuous struggle and one cannot afford to stop.
He highlighted that of the taxes collected by the government, about 3,000 people from a total 220 million actually paid 70 per cent tax. From this amount, he continued, half goes into paying the debts incurred due to the loans taken by previous governments.
“Our exports were growing, the construction industry was thriving,” he said, adding that the country was at a divisive point.
He added that the service industry was still in crisis all over the world at the moment. When you cut expenses, you bring down the demand, he further said.
A few days earlier, PM Imran on Twitter thanked the “overseas Pakistanis for yet another record-breaking month of remittances in Dec” for an amount of $2.4 billion.
“[First]Â time in Pakistan remittances have been above $2 bn for 6 consecutive months. Total for 6 months of this fiscal year $14.2 bn – a 24.9% growth over last year,” he said.
He said that arch-rivals of the past, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have now shaken hands to conceal their corruption.
He said that Pakistan is passing through a defining moment and social media has a great role in setting a new standard of morality by exposing the plunderers.
