PESHAWAR, Nov 15: Chief of his own faction of Pakistan People’s Party Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said here on Monday that government should stop considering Afghanistan as its fifth province if it wanted meaningful dialogue with it. Addressing a press conference at his residence in Hayatabad, he said that peace in Afghanistan was essential for the interests of Pakistan, therefore, concerted efforts were required to bring an end to bloodshed in the region. “Afghanistan is a sovereign country and it should be treated at equal level,” he said. He stressed the need for removing mistrust between the two countries.

He suggested that contacts should be developed at government, institutional and people-to-people level to promote goodwill and harmony for a bright future of the region. He added that the Afghan imbroglio should be resolved through dialogue and the grand jirga process should further be accelerated.

On this occasion social activists Dr Mohammad Alam Yousafzai and Sarwar Khan announced joining PPP-S.

Mr Sherpao said that the government should not impose Reformed General Sales Tax (RGST). The target of Rs40 billion should be achieved through reduction of expenditure, he added.

He termed RGST as aggressive taxation that would open the floodgates of price hike and snatch very right of living from the commoners.

About prime minister’s statement that chief ministers of all provinces had agreed to the imposition of RGST, he said that allies of government had adopted dual policy by issuing public statements against RGST.

The PPP-S chief said that government was least interested in resolving problems of general public as it was busy in promotion of personal interests.

He said that the government had failed on both internal and external fronts. He said that the US president visited India and ignored Pakistan that showed the failure of foreign policy.