LAHORE: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has said that the country can progress again provided invisible hands do not pull legs of the government.

“(We) can work wonders and make the country great treading fast on the path of progress provided the invisible hands do not again pull legs (of the government),” he said, while speaking at the shrine of Ali Hajveri, better known as Data Gunj Baksh, here on Sunday.

He said the country became a nuclear and missile power during the PML-N government, which would now make it an economic power too.

He recalled the deteriorating economy and poor diplomatic image of the country back in 2013 when it used to be said that the country would need 10 to 15 years to come out of the economic quagmire.

But, he said, the PML-N government worked wonders and within four years, the country became the 24th economy of the world and it was soon to join the G-20 club when the Nawaz government was toppled.

The succeeding government, he lamented, pushed down the country to 47th rank economy wise.

“Pakistan suffered a lot on the economic front during the last four years,” the deputy prime minister said.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2024