KARACHI: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrived in Karachi on Tuesday to inaugurate the Karachi-Hyderabad (M-9) motorway on Super Highway.

According to the premier's spokesperson, Nawaz will return to Islamabad after the inauguration. He is also expected to review the law and order situation in Karachi.

After arriving in Karachi, the premier departed for Nooriabad via helicopter. Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad and chief minister of Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah were present at the inauguration along with National Highway Authority (NHA) Chairman Shahid Ashraf Tarar and Major Gen Muhammad Afzal.

- DawnNews screengrab

The M-9 motorway's first phase will include conversion of the Karachi–Hyderabad Superhighway to a six-lane Motorway. The second phase of the project will be the Karachi-Lahore Motorway which is scheduled to be developed from Hyderabad to Sukkur, Sukkur to Multan and from Multan to Lahore.

This project is expected to be completed in 2.5 years.

During his address at the inauguration, PM Nawaz shed light on the importance of development in Pakistan.

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"The project is close to my heart as I always wished to develop a motorway from Karachi to Lahore," the premier said. "It has always been my dream for Pakistan to have more motorways like countries abroad and have better infrastructure."

Nawaz also mentioned that due to the situation in Pakistan, the country lagged behind in development but the government's future aims are to promote more projects to improve infrastructure. He further elaborated that the government's future plan is to also commence the China-Pak corridor project and the 42-km Malir Express project which will start at the port and connect with M-9.

"We want to cover Pakistan in a web of motorways to bring the provinces closer," Nawaz added.

While talking about energy related projects, the premier said that by the end of 2017, the government will overcome the electricity shortage and put an end to load-shedding.

"Pakistan will 10,000 MW of electricity will be in Pakistan by 2017, which will be paid for through the public sector development project rather than taking loans," said Nawaz.

He further added that the government is also setting up coal based projects and use coal reserves in Tharparkar so that importing coal is so longer necessary.

While concluding his address, the premier said he hopes that during his tenure as prime minister, he hopes to not only develop a motorway from Karachi to Peshawar but to Kabul and eventually central Asia as well.

Read: PM Nawaz inaugurates international terminal at Multan airport

On Monday, PM Nawaz inaugurated the international terminal of the existing Multan Airport, enabling international travel for Multan residents who previously had to travel to Islamabad and Lahore to make an international journey.

He had said that for the country to progress, there was a need to plan ahead for at least 25 years so that the country keeps pace with the modern world.