ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Friday said that the process for extradition of former finance minister Ishaq Dar, Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz would be initiated soon.

“Ishaq Dar is the linchpin in the whole episode; the people of Pakistan demand recovery of looted money and it will happen when Ishaq Dar is brought back as he knows about all the details of hidden money,” he said while talking to the media outside the Parliament House.

The former information minister said that negotiations had been made with the home department of the UK in the past two weeks for extradition of Mr Dar and the two sons of Nawaz Sharif. He added that there was positive response from the UK government in this regard.

The minister said that recovery from plunderers would start soon which would be a big achievement of the government. “These people will be brought back soon and the recovery will start,” Mr Chaudhry said. He added that time had come for Altaf Hussain, Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif to pay for their past misdeeds.

He said that National Assembly sessions should not be used to protect the criminals and looters of the country.

National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser was being pressurised by the opposition for issuance of production orders of the arrested plunderers so that the investigations could not be completed, he said.

The minister said that the same thing happened in the case of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif and that was the reason why investigation against him over Ashiyana and Saaf Pani schemes could not be completed as he was in the ministers’ colony all the time.

“The speaker has sought legal opinion from the Ministry of Law and Justice in this regard,” he said, adding that a similar tactic was being used to protect former president Asif Zardari now.

The minister alleged money transferred from the federation to Sindh was shifted to different countries of the world in the account of president of the Peoples Party Parliamentarians Asif Zardari through fake accounts.

The minister said the opposition was demanding a production order for Mr Zardari only to create a hurdle in the smooth investigation against the plunderer who had looted the national exchequer.

The minister urged the opposition parties in the National Assembly not to turn the house into an arena for personal vendetta as whenever Prime Minister Imran Khan arrived in the session, the opposition started chanting slogans.

About the prime minister’s recent visit to Kyrgyzstan, the minister said the conference of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was the best forum utilised by Imran Khan to promote good relations with Russia.

The minister said that Pakistan would have to avail great opportunities with the Russian government in the field of science and technology. He also said that Pakistan wanted peace in the region, adding that the Pulwama incident had exposed India. Peace was in the larger interest of the people on both sides, he added.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2019