SAHIWAL: The federal government’s weak foreign policy allowed India to shell Pakistani civilians along the Line of Control as India wanted to impose its agenda on Pakistan.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi said this to reporters on Thursday in Pakpattan.

He said talks between Pakistan and India in Ufa went well but later it was again Pakistan’s failure when India refused to include the Kashmir issue in the NSA level talks.

Mr Qureshi also criticised the economic policies, saying traders, farmers and labourers were at the receiving end of the bad economic policies.

He said government’s continuous failure to fix the support prices of cotton, maize, and potato had crushed growers. He said traders were observing strike against withholding tax on Sept 9 and he urged the growers to join the protest with traders. He said the recent price hike of gas had increased a urea bag’s price by Rs160.

He said the Jamaat-i-Islami, PPP, PML-Q and PTI were on the same page about election reforms and the Election Commission of Pakistan had accepted objections raised by the PTI on the electoral process. He said the days of PML-N and PPP were over and upcoming local bodies election would expose their political strength.

He also addressed a public gathering where Rao Naseem Hashim, Mazhar Farid Wattoo, Muhammad Amjad Joiya and Ahmed Raza Manika were present.

ROADS: Thirty-two road schemes at the cost of Rs1.36 billion will be completed under ‘Khadim-i-Punjab Rural Road Pro gramme in Okara, Pakpattan and Sahiwal districts till Nov 30.

Participants of a meeting at Commissioner Office learned on Thursday. That up to Rs408 million for 19 Sahiwal schemes, Rs506.7 million for seven Okara scheme, and Rs401.5 million for six Pakpattan road projects have been released.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2015

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