MULTAN: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi says he will contact PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to get their support for the creation of a new province as constitutional amendment is required for the purpose.

Talking to media here on Saturday, he says the government has decided to allocate exclusive budget for south Punjab from next fiscal year keeping in view the deprivation of the area.

He says all-out efforts are being made for the development of south Punjab and establishment of a civil secretariat through an executive order is one of such steps the government is going to take while other measures will also be taken so that the people should not go to Lahore for their official requirements.

He says establishment of Kartarpur Corridor is a big diplomatic achievement of Pakistan and the Indian government was forced to endorse it by calling a meeting of its cabinet.”It was my desire that the Indian foreign minister would have attended the ceremony but the [Indian] government sent two of its ministers whom we welcomed,” he says.

The foreign minister says Pakistan is an ideological state and it has nothing to do with the statement of the Indian army chief to make Pakistan secular first. He claims across-the-board accountability is under way and no concession will be given to anyone in this regard.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2018