Daily Times

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday, recounting Saudi Arabia’s unconditional financial and diplomatic support to Pakistan, warned that any venom-spitting against such a brotherly country was an unforgivable crime and called for the national unity to counter such anti-state elements.

The prime minister, addressing the inauguration of the Restoration of Kachhi Canal damaged by 2022 floods, said whether it was the Kashmir issue, the United Nations or the UN Security Council, Saudi Arabia always acted as Pakistan’s advocate and benefactor, as the Kingdom also bailed out Pakistan recently to seek IMF program.

“Despite this, such venom-spitting is an unforgivable crime. I as the prime minister of Pakistan want to announce that the nation will break any hand trying to undermine the Pakistan-Saudi friendship. This is not a joke. The allegation is beyond understanding. The largest national interest is being “slaughtered” to serve the short-term political interest,” he remarked after inaugurating the project that will irrigate over 715,000 acres of land in Balochistan and revive life in the area turned barren after the floods.

The prime minister told the ceremony that during the last 77 years, Saudi Arabia attached no strings or preconditions to its support to Pakistan and the current leadership had also asked its administration to invest in Pakistan as MoUs worth billions of dollars had already been signed.

Commenting on a statement by the spouse of PTI founder regarding Saudi Arabia, he said: “There can be no animosity to Pakistan bigger than this” and explained that such people were naive to the magnitude of the damage through their “venomous” words.

Prime Minister Shehbaz recalled the Kingdom’s support to Pakistan after it carried out the nuclear tests in 1998 in the form of a free-of-charge oil facility as well as financial support.

He told the gathering that the feasibility study of the Kachhi Canal Project was started in 1998 during Nawaz Sharif’s tenure and was completed in his second tenure after suffering a lot during Pervez Musharraf time.

He appreciated the WAPDA and Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal and their respective team for accomplishing the repair project and assured the federal government’s all-out support for the second phase.

Prime Minister Shehbaz also appreciated the Balochistan chief minister for reviving the merit-based order and launching the solarisation of tube-wells.

Similarly, he also spoke highly for the Punjab Chief Minister for launching the project of a cancer hospital, free tractor scheme for farmers to bring about the agricultural revolution and other initiatives in the education and health sectors.

Earlier, in her address, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said the canal project would bring about prosperity in Balochistan besides enhancing coordination and closeness among the provinces.

She said the credit for all mega public welfare projects like motorways, youth scholarships, modern transport facilities including Orange Line, Metro or Speedo buses and student bikes went to the PML-N governments.

She said that having removed the risks of defaults, the PML-N government successfully revived the economy as the stock exchange was breaking records, inflation was down to 7% and remittances were on the rise.

Coming to the PTI’s call for the march, the Punjab chief minister said the people were not paying heed to their calls which had been flopping one after the other.

Criticising the statement by PTI founder’s spouse regarding Saudi Arabia, she said it wasn’t mere terrorism disrupting the progress rather the acts of attacking the other province by KP chief minister were also “very dangerous and beyond understanding.”

Balochistan CM Balochistan Sarfaraz Bugti said Punjab always welcomed not only the people from Balochistan but all ethnicities for employment or education and those carrying out the targeted killings in his province were the terrorists killing Pakistanis.

He told the prime minister that the next 100-kilometer second phase of the canal needed no lined canal as it would require huge funds for construction as well as repair. He said the project could be completed within three to four months if the federal government extended support.

Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal said that the federal government was prioritising Balochistan’s uplift through an enhanced allocation of funds and share in the development portfolio. However, those who were disrupting peace in the province were not friends but foes of Balochistan and agents of foreign forces, desiring to fight a proxy war like Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the PTI denied the negative characterisation of Bushra Bibi’s remarks by the government. In a post on X, PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said that the PTI viewed the relationship with Saudi Arabia with great respect and dignity and wanted to further expand on the “brotherly and friendly” relation.

“Bushra Bibi did not directly or indirectly name the leadership or government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in her message, nor is there any possibility of doing so.

“Rather, she pointed to the characters whose chief was General Qamar Javed Bajwa who were active against an elected democratic government internally and externally and who created an environment at the expense of state resources at the local and international levels to pave the way for the regime change project,” Akram said.

The PTI spokesperson said that the party strongly condemned the attempt by the “mandate-thief government, which is afraid of nationwide protests, to use the brotherly Islamic country as a source of baseless rumours in view of nefarious political goals.

“The only aim of the efforts to distort a specific part of the video message of Imran’s wife and to create a narrative on the media and social media based on it at the expense of state resources is to support their declining reputation and government by putting Pakistan’s diplomatic interests at stake.”

Earlier an accountability court in Rawalpindi issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi in £190 million case, ARY News reported.

As per details, the case was heard by accountability court judge Nasir Javed Rana, and issued Bushra Bibi’s non-bailable arrest warrants.

Former prime minister Imran Khan was also presented before the court in £190 million case. It is important to mention here that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has already granted bail to PTI founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the £190 million National Crime Agency (NCA) settlement reference.