• Claims President Putin appreciated Islamabad’s position on Ukraine war
• Warns country may face famine without global assistance
• Calls out Imran Khan for his ‘negative role’ in COAS selection process; terms him a ‘national criminal’ for sabotaging relief efforts, stopping aid agencies

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Saturday said that Russia has offered wheat to Pakistan to deal with the impending food shortages as a result of crops damages caused by recent floods.

Addressing a press conference, Mr Asif detailed the prime minister’s interaction with world leaders at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan.

“There have been discussions on oil, gas and wheat supplies from Russia,” he said, adding that Russia has proposed that its gas pipelines infrastructure which was in place till Central Asian states could be extended to Pakistan through Afghanistan.

Mr Asif also said Russian President Vladimir Putin appreciated Pakistan’s position on the Russia-Ukraine War.

PM Sharif and President Putin met on Thursday on the sidelines of the summit where they expressed commitment to expand and strengthen cooperation between their countries across all areas of mutual benefit, including food security, trade and investment, energy, defence and security.

Earlier this week, Reuters, while quoting Russian news agency RIA, reported that President Putin has hinted at possible gas supplies to Pakistan as part of the infrastructure was already in place.

The two countries also agreed to convene the next meeting of the Inter-Governmental Comm­i­ssion (IGC) in Islamabad at an early date, according to Reuters.

‘Pakistan might face famine’

The minister said Pakistan might witness a ‘famine’ after floods and added that the country would need assistance from neighbours and the world community to deal with the aftermaths of large-scale crop losses.

Mr Asif said the prime minister had at the summit reiterated that Pakistan would need the assistance due to massive damage to its agriculture that would cause a ‘food security crisis’.

He added that Mr Sharif and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed projects under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and other infrastructure projects.

‘PM will appoint COAS in November’

Responding to a query pertaining to the chief of army staff’s (COAS) appointment, Mr Asif said it was a constitutional procedure which should be done when the time arrives.

The process, as per the Constitution, is that any sitting prime minister will decide the nomination in November.

“Nawaz Sharif has done the process four times and this time Shahbaz Sharif will do it.”

He alleged that the matter has come into the limelight in a way that had never happened before in the country’s history and blamed Mr Khan for it.

He also called out Mr Khan for ‘playing a negative role’ in this entire process and said the army chief’s loyalty is to the state and the Constitution and no one should question it.

He claimed that there have been ‘persistent attacks’ on the national security and called Mr Khan ‘a national criminal’ for sabotaging flood relief efforts and stopping international agencies to provide aid.

“Politics is separate but institutions should not be made controversial. However, he [Imran] won’t hesitate in sabotaging Pak­is­tan for his personal benefit.”

The prime minister will convene a National Security Comm­ittee meeting after his return to Pakistan and the issues pertaining to Imran Khan’s statements would be discussed which, he said, have ‘jeopardised national security.’

Criticising Mr Khan for holding rallies when the country has been ravaged by floods, Mr Asif said the former prime minister was not talking about floods, rather has been ‘continuously demanding power’.

He added that the flood cau­sed massive destruction in south Punjab and Khyber Pakh­tunkhwa, but the commitment from the PTI governments in the two provinces “was not to be seen anywhere”.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2022