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| May 24, 2002 | Friday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 11,1423 |
Troops being recalled from Sierra Leone, says Memon
SIALKOT, May 23: Pakistan was calling back its troops sent for UN peace mission in Sierra Leone in the wake of aggressive statements of war by the Indian leadership.
This was stated by Federal Information Minister Nisar Memon while talking to newsmen here on Friday after visiting villages affected by the Indian shelling along the working boundary.
He said that Gen Pervez Musharraf had formally requested UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan in this regard.
“We are facing threats from within and outside the country and are in immediate need to call back our troops from the UN peace mission to defend our boundaries,” he added.
Talking to newsmen at the local Press Club later, he said Pakistan wanted peace and de-escalation in the region, but ready to go all out if India attacked.
He voiced his concern over threatening and aggressive statements by Indian leadership that it was time for a ‘decisive war’.
All differences between Pakistan and India, including Kashmir, should be resolved through bilateral talks and other peaceful means as provided in the UN charter. He asked the international community to “impress upon India the dangers inherent in the explosive situation created as a result of Indian belligerence.”
Replying to a question, the minister reiterated the government stance that no organization in Pakistan would be allowed to indulge in terrorism in the name of Kashmir.
Work on financial devolution, he said, was being carried out besides removing pitfalls to ensure that local governments were provided with enough funds to undertake uplift projects.
Mr Memon said country’s print and electronic media was playing its effective role in combating the Indian media war against Pakistan.
Since the country was facing danger within and outside, it was high time for political and religious parties to join hands with the Musharraf government, he said.
Talking to local businessmen at the SCCI, he said the Sialkot-based exporters were also brave soldiers as they were protecting the country’s economical boundaries by earning annually 650 million dollars foreign exchange.
He urged upon the national and foreign investors to utilize all their potential for raising the indexes of Karachi and Lahore stock exchanges in curbing the menace of an economic war imposed on us by India.
He directed the PTV authorities to telecast a 15-minute long documentary film on Sialkot’s export culture for boosting its export oriented industries.
The government was committed to promote the export culture in the country besides injecting a new life into the sick economy, he added.
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