MARDAN: Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif said here on Friday that the federal government would soon remove reservations of the opposition parties concerning change in the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor route.

Accompanied by Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Mr Sharif visited Mardan to condole the death of former federal minister Azam Khan Hoti with his son and former chief minister, Ameer Haider Khan Hoti. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan also accompanied them.

Talking to media persons, the Punjab chief minister said that he had discussed the issue of Pak-China Economic Corridor with the KP governor and asked him to arrange a programme for Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal with media persons in Peshawar to have a detailed briefing regarding the issue so that reservations of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa could be removed.

Punjab CM says Pakistan to stand by Saudi Arabia in its critical time

He declared as historic the Chinese president’s visit to Pakistan, saying that both the countries had signed different agreements and MoUs worth billions of dollars. He said that most of the projects were related to power generation and all these projects were scheduled to be completed by 2018.

“Now the ball is in our court,” the chief minister said, adding that now it was the responsibility of the federal and provincial governments to perform their role positively in this connection so as to take maximum advantages of the projects.

Answering a question about Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to Saudi Arabia, he said: “We have very strong brotherly relations with Saudi Arabia for the last several decades and we will defend and protect it from every kind of danger or threat if its sovereignty is challenged by anyone.”

“A friend in need is a friend indeed,” he said, adding that the prime minister visited Saudi Arabia to ensure the kingdom of all kind of support. He said that Pakistan would stand by Saudi Arabia in its critical time.

Answering a question about the operation in Karachi, Federal Interior Minister Chaudry Nisar Ali Khan said that the government was moving successfully to restore peace in the country’s economic hub.

He recalled that six to seven persons were killed by unknown attackers daily in Karachi before they came to power, and said that now peace had been restored in Karachi city.

He said that the operation led by Rangers, police and other agencies in Karachi had achieved big successes.

He said that the government would take the operations to conclusion whether they were being carried out in Karachi or other parts of the country.

SCHOLARSHIPS: The 58th meeting of the scholarship selection committee of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan (AWKUM) was held here on Friday. The meeting approved names of 25 administrative staff officers of the university for the five-week ‘Leadership and Professional Development Training’, to be held at Massey University of New Zealand. The meeting was chaired by vice-chancellor Prof Ihsan Ali. The training would start from July 21.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2015

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