ISLAMABAD: State Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb on Monday said that all the provinces and state institutions and government were on the same page in the fight against terrorism. She said this while participating in a panel discussion on a private TV channel in the backdrop of the terrorist attack in Lahore. The minister observed that this kind of single-mindedness and unity of thought was non-existent during the previous regimes. She said that it was an unfaltering resolve on the part of the present government to deal with terrorism which paved the way for the ultimate action against the terrorist outfit and their sympathisers. The minister, with a view to corroborate her claim about successes against the terrorist entities pointed out that in 2013 the number of terrorists incidents per year stood at 2622, which had now come down to 155. She said that before 2013 the country was not properly equipped to take decisive action against the terrorists due to the absence of necessary infrastructure and policy framework. She said that the PML (N) government evolved the National Action Plan (NAP) with the consensus of all the stakeholders under which myriad of steps on the administrative, legal and ideological level had been taken. The minister of state said that prior to 2013, nobody talked about seminaries, but the present government after taking the Wafaqul Madaris into confidence has initiated a process of their registration, evolving a common curriculum and bringing them into the mainstream of the education system of the country. Marriyum pointed out that the provinces had a greater role in the implementation of NAP and in the regulation of the seminaries within their territories. She contended that the government had already covered a long way in this regard and the change was quite discernible. She said that continuity of the government and completion of its mandated period was utmost necessary in the fight against terrorism and the implementation of the policies choreographed to tackle the menace. The minister emphasised that terrorism was an international phenomenon and tackling it required collective, unflinching and integrated efforts besides a counter-terrorism narrative evolved through the parliament to give it the national ownership. She said that the prime minister, after the installation of the government, had clearly indicated what policy Pakistan was going to pursue with respect to its relations with Afghanistan and US, particularly in dealing with the scourge of terrorism. Responding to a question regarding the much talked about resignation by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the minister said that it was not appropriate to indulge in speculation on the issue as he himself had given his reaction on such rumours. She said that he was a very senior leader of the party who had his own opinion on certain issues and always came up with very solid suggestions on different issues. She said that Chaudhry Nisar was very much functional as interior minister and also in contact with the security agencies about the terrorist attack in Lahore. Published in Daily Times, July 25th 2017.