ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif Khawaja Asif said on Thursday that the purpose of the real protests in Islamabad was to cause economic upheaval in Pakistan and to undermine the projects the government was working on for the provision of cheap electricity to the people, DawnNews reported.

The minister was addressing a press conference in the federal capital where he said that the country had been made to suffer a gigantic loss of billions of dollars because certain elements were only focused on enhancing their political gains.

Asif laid the blame on the protesting parties — Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) — for the country's economic degradation and said that the protests were an attempt to derail ties between Pakistan and China.

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Earlier, the visit of the Chinese President Xi Jinping to Pakistan had been cancelled in light of the protests in Islamabad.

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) had blamed PTI Chairman Imran Khan and PAT chief Tahirul Qadri's protests in the capital for the cancellation of the Chinese president's visit. Following the cancellation of the visit, India rolled out the red carpet for the Chinese president on his maiden visit to the neighbouring country.

More on this: ‘Govt itself responsible for visit cancellation’