Daily Times

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said on Thursday that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoyed fraternal relations based on shared religious and cultural values and the media had an important role in further strengthening the brotherly ties.

Speaking as chief guest at a function here to mark second anniversary of the launch of Pakistan edition of leading Saudi newspaper Arab News, she said the media had played an active role in promotion of people-to-people and inter-state ties, and Arab News was playing its role in that regard in an effective manner.

She said Arab News was reflection of contemporary social, cultural and Islamic values of the Middle East. The launch of Arab News edition in Pakistan would prove to be a torch bearer of media development on Pakistan and hopefully the Pakistani media outlets would also replicate the latest technology being used by Arab News.

She said the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman to Pakistan and Prime Minister Imran Khan to Saudi Arabia had proved milestones in further cementing ties of the two brotherly nations.

She said the hearts of Pakistanis and Saudis beat in union and they shared views.

South East Asia Bureau Chief of Arab News Baker Atyani said Pakistan had moved towards peace and now news items were about business, democracy its diverse culture and religious tolerance , rather than terrorism as was the case few years ago.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Ayesha Farooqui while congratulating the Arab News over second anniversary of Pakistan edition launch, said the media had a role in strengthening Pak-Saudi ties based on shared religion and cultural values.

Separately, Firdous Ashiq Awan said that being a vibrant ambassador of Kashmiris, Prime Minister Imran Khan had exposed the ugly face of his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi by highlighting his brutal reign of terror in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K) at world fora.

Addressing a press conference here flanked by PTI AJK President Barrister Sultan Mehmood and Chairman of Senate’s Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting Faisal Javed, she said in a short span of time, the Government of Pakistan under the dynamic leadership of Imran Khan had internationalized the Kashmir issue unveiling the nefarious designs of Modi against Kashmiris after his August 5, 2019 sinister move of scrapping the special status of IOJ&K.

Dr Firdous was in Mirpur in connection with a Kashmir Solidarity Day rally, which was addressed by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Paying tribute to the freedom loving people of IOJ&K, the SAPM said, “Kashmir belongs to the Kashmiris, and chains, guns and piles of weapons cannot suppress their struggle for freedom.”

Pakistan, she said, would take every step to highlight the Kashmir cause. The government and the people of Pakistan always stood with their Kashmiri brethren.

She said the present government under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan was standing firm on the national narrative on Kashmir. The prime minister’s visit to the AJK manifested that both the people and the government of Pakistan would not budge from supporting the Kashmiris, she added.

The unprecedented demonstration of solidarity with the Kashmiri people by the entire nation on February 5 was an ample proof of that fact, she said.

Dr Firdous said the brave sons of IOJ&K were continuing their liberation movement by shedding their blood and Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday gave them a clear-cut message that they were not alone in the hours of trial.

She said the valiant Kashmiris had stood firm despite state terrorism and suppression unleashed by the Modi government, which could not quell their spirit for freedom. They had been giving sacrifices from generation to generation, she added.

Imran Khan, she said, reminded the world of their commitment to give the right of self-determination to the Kashmiris as enshrined in the United Nations resolutions. Over eight million people of IOJ&K had been under siege laid by the Indian occupational forces since August 5, 2019 and it was now enjoined upon the world community to get halted that reign of state terrorism in the valley, she added.

“The Hindutva and RSS ideology are being promoted in so-called secular India and Kashmir by Modi and his accomplices, and the world should take immediate notice of their nefarious acts of suppressing Kashmiris just and principled struggle for freedom.”

Also, Firdous said that Prime Minister Imran Khan accorded top priority to education as it was the main impelling cause for human progress and national development.

The prime minister was keen to encourage investment in the education sector, which was related to the future of Pakistan, she said during a meeting here with Quintin McKellar, Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of University of Hertfordshire (UK), according to a press release.

“Education is the only way forward for socio-economic development of any society,” Dr Firdous remarked.

She said Pakistan’s population comprised 60 per cent youth that was why it was imperative to orient them towards quality education of international standards.

Welcoming the collaboration of University of Hertfordshire, UK with The Millennium Universal College (TMUC), Islamabad, she said Pakistan had a conducive environment for investment in education and higher education sectors.

She also commended the role of TMUC for setting a trend in imparting quality education to the students. “Public-private partnership in education is sine qua non to boost the literacy rate of the country.”

Quintin McKellar said his university had a history of educating students from Pakistan and partnership with TMUC would further reinforce cooperation in the field of education.

He apprised the SAPM that over the next three years, they intended to expand the partnership by establishing international standard university campus in Pakistan.

The vice chancellor said the university located on the outskirts of London was offering business and computing degrees to 26,000 students annually. The public sector University of Hertfordshire was ranked as teaching excellence framework Gold Status with 97 per cent employability in the United Kingdom.

Dr Firdous assured the visiting dignitaries of her support to promote the cause of education in Pakistan and hoped that the visit of Quintin McKellar would offer an opportunity to learn from his experiences to uplift the education sector of the country. Roots Millennium Education CEO Chaudhry Faisal Mushtaq apprised the SAPM of his educational institute’s role in promoting education in the country.

Separately, Firdous said that Prime Minister Imran Khan strongly believed in freedom of expression. She said this while participating in a cake cutting ceremony on the fifth anniversary of a private news channel here on Thursday.

She felicitated the news channel staff for projecting the positive image of Pakistan both at home and abroad, and hoped that it would continue to do responsible journalism.

She said it was the duty of every media house to present credible facts and information before the public and to safeguard ideological boundaries of the country.

Minister for Science and Technology, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Noor-ul-Haq Qadri, Secretary Information, Principle Information Officer, Inspector General of Police, Islamabad also attended the ceremony.