NEW YORK, Sep 22 (APP):Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Friday said the expansionist designs of Indian government under its Hindutva ideology were extremely dangerous for regional and global peace and security.
Referring to the murder of a Sikh leader on the Canadian soil by India as a state, he said Pakistan had been directly bearing the brunt of India’s nefarious designs for a long time but the recent wave of Hindutva had even alarmed the Western capitals.
Pakistan, he said, had been persistently highlighting India’s hegemonic designs under its Hindutva ideology since long and would keep doing so.”We have also taken up the issue along with the target killing in Canada with the United Nations general secretary,” he added.
The capturing of the Indian spy Kulbhushan Yadav from Balochistan area was a clear proof of India’s direct interference in Pakistan, the prime minister said in an interview with PTV on the sidelines of 78th session of the UN General Assembly.
He said Pakistan was fully capable to tackle the challenge of terrorism. “We are proud of our military that has developed the capability of eliminating the menace,” he said, adding Pakistan was in close coordination with the regional countries, including Afghanistan, in that regard.
The entire region was deeply concerned and worried about the resurgence of terrorism, he remarked.
As regards relations with China, PM Kakar said Pakistan enjoyed its deep-rooted and all- weather friendship with China, which “will remain intact in future”.
He said Pakistan was a sovereign and independent country. “If anybody think that we will develop relations with any country at China’s cost, he or she cannot understand the legitimate interests of Pakistan with respect to China.”
He said Pakistan had also friendly relations with the United States and other Western countries. A large number of Pakistanis were in the US and were playing a key role in furthering bilateral relations between the two countries, he added.
Regarding his meeting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief, the prime minister said that the IMF chief expressed her pleasure when she was told about the strict actions taken by the Government of Pakistan against smugglers and currency hoarders.
The IMF’s only objective was to improve Pakistan’s economic situation and that was why it wanted assurances that the funds being given by it were in safe hands, he added.
The prime minister said all the multilateral financial institutions had expressed satisfaction over the government’s economic revival plan, which included tax reforms, enhancing tax net, measures to increase revenue generation, smooth running of privatization process and reforms in the power sector.
He expressed the hope that due to the government’s crackdown against the electricity theft, the utility bills would gradually reduce in the coming days.
He said the power sector reforms were extremely necessary for improving the country’s overall economic structure.
With respect to the last year’s donor conference held in Geneva in the wake of devastating floods in Pakistan, PM Kakar called upon the countries and financial institutions to honour their pledges of around $10 billion so that the rehabilitation and reconstruction work could be undertaken in the flood-affected areas.
To a question regarding the general elections, the prime minister said the caretaker government’s key responsibility was to facilitate the Election Commission of Pakistan in holding smooth, free and fair polls.