Daily Times

The Pakistan-US Business Council (PUBC) has expressed grave concern over anti-Pakistan bill moved in the US Senate, saying Islamabad was coalition partner of Washington in war on terror in Afghanistan and suffered colossal human and economic losses.

PUBC Chairman Iftikhar Ali Malik while talking to a delegation of traders led by Mian Aftab Zia said US instead of offering free market access to Pakistani products to help stabilise its bleak economy has moved bill contrary to facts, said a statement issued on Friday.

He said it is on record that the whole world including US and west several times widely acknowledged the unprecedented contribution and key role of valiant Pakistan armed forces and brave civilians for quelling the menace of terrorism with iron hand not only in Afghanistan but also in the region. He said that Pakistan is the only country in the world which housed the huge influx of 4.5 million Afghan refugees.

Malik said the rise of violent extremism and increase in terrorism in Pakistan due to instability in Afghanistan not only caused serious damage to Pakistan’s economy but has also been responsible for wide spread human suffering due to indiscriminate attacks against civilian population. He said this odd situation badly disrupted Pakistan’s normal economic and trading activities which not only resulted in higher cost of doing business but also created disruptions in the production cycles resulting in significant delays in meeting export orders around the globe.

Consequently, Pakistani products have gradually lost market share to their competitors and economic growth could not be picked up as planned, the chairman said. Investment flow and negative trends of outsourcing of capital in Pakistan has further added to the woes of dwindling performance of the export-oriented industry, he maintained.

He urged the US to revoke bill from the Senate that directly targets Pakistan. He said entire business community stands united with government and Pakistani armed forces against any external and internal threats.