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PM Shehbaz Sharif fears ‘all hell to break loose’ sans debt relief

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  • PM Shehbaz makes urgent appeal for debt relief for flood-ravaged Pakistan.
  • Reminds rich nations Pakistan paying price for their greed.
  • Asks how Pakistan can stand on its own feet unless given “substantial relief.”

With debt obligations drawing to a close, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has made an urgent appeal for relief in the repayment of debts from rich nations, reminding them that Pakistan is bearing the brunt of environmental damage caused by them to cater to their greed.

In a conversation with Bloomberg TV, PM Shehbaz Sharif said that Pakistan recently signed a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under “very tough” conditions, including taxes on petroleum and electricity.

Seeking support for Pakistan, hit by catastrophic floods this monsoon while already reeling from a stressed economy, PM Shehbaz Sharif said:

“Unless we get substantial relief how can the world expect from us to stand on our own feet? It is simply impossible,” he said.”The world has to stand by us.”

Responding to a question about debt obligations, the premier said they have spoken to European leaders and other leaders “to help us, in the Paris Club, get a moratorium”.

As per PM Shehbaz Sharif, there is a “yawning gap” between what Pakistan is asking for and what is available, warning that the nation is facing the imminent threat of epidemics and other dangers.

“God forbid this happens, all hell will [break loose],” he said.

The Pakistani leader shared that he’d spoken to the World Bank about immediate debt relief and would begin talks with China after the Paris Club.

Pakistan owes $30 billion to China, or about a third of its total external debt.

He said the floods were the result of an unprecedented cloudburst induced by climate change due to the environmental damage caused by fossil fuels.

“Therefore it’s none of our doing, our making. Our carbon emission is less than 1% and to be very exact it’s 0.08%, which is the lowest in the world. But we are rated as one of the most vulnerable countries.”

“Essentially I should have been in my country with my people in flood-affected areas with children, boys, girls and those who have been badly affected, to console them and provide them with some relief. But I’m here to tell the world what happened with us and with our people.”

“Has the word done enough and what can be done?” he was asked.

To this, he said that the US, Turkish and French presidents have touched upon this subject and commended their concern.

“What they have done is commendable, but it is far from meeting our needs. We cannot do it alone. We cannot, you know, cough up resources from our own pocket, which are already insufficient to meet our pressing needs. We need additional funds.”

“So I think, unless the world comes out with billions of dollars in support for relief, for building of resilient infrastructure, and [for] infrastructure adaptation in agriculture and housing, things will not come back to normal,” he said.

About his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the prime minister said he spoke to the Russian president about the availability of gas and oil and Putin has promised him that he will most definitely look into this. 

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“Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card” for farmers gets approved by CM Punjab

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At a meeting on agricultural reforms, Punjab’s Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz presided over the approval of the “Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card” for farmers.

Farmers would receive a variety of subsidies through the Kisan Card scheme, and 500,000 small farmers in Punjab will be eligible for loans totaling Rs 150 billion over the course of a year. Each farmer will receive Rs 30,000 for every acre of land used for agriculture.

CM Maryam Nawaz announced during the meeting that a model agriculture center will be constructed in each district of the province with the assistance of the commercial sector, enabling farmers to discard phony fertilizers and medications.

The establishment of a cutting-edge center of excellence for research development on cotton, wheat, and rice crops was approved during the conference, and the Agriculture Department was instructed to gather comprehensive data on the production and demand of each crop.

Participants in the conference decided to link the research center with local universities and to give the board authority over administrative matters.

It was also decided to construct a research and development center at Agricultural University Faisalabad with Chinese participation, at a cost of Rs 2 billion.

In addition, it was decided to hire 500 agricultural graduates, update the Punjab Seed Corporation and Punjab Agricultural Research Board’s organizational structures, provide a bill that forbids the use of agricultural land for residential purposes, and outfit the Agricultural Extension Wing with cutting-edge machinery.

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Khalid Maqbool calls the ‘non-local’ police that were placed in Karachi ‘injustice’.

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Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, the convener of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), described the imposition of “non-local” police and administration on the port city as an injustice for the people, as reported by The News on Friday.

During a labor wing of the party-organized iftar dinner in North Nazimabad, the politician claimed that Karachi had non-local police, calling this an injustice to the city’s residents.

Siddiqui questioned why the province’s capital city had a non-local police force, pointing out that other major centers in Sindh had their own citizens working in state and federal organizations.

We are going through numerous political phases as a country, and we are forced to use non-local administration and law enforcement. However, the MQM-P has once again reclaimed from the non-locals the mandate of the province’s metropolitan districts,” Siddiqui stated.

Siddiqui claimed that “ghair maqami,” or non-local, bandits were killing young people in Karachi through street violence, citing the city’s growing number of youth fatalities from such incidents.

“Young people in the city are being brutally murdered by out-of-town bandits during Ramadan,” the MQM-P leader claimed.

He went on to say that Sindh’s “racist” administration had been given free rein and that although his party had been silent throughout Ramadan, it will now speak out about the deaths of young people in the city at the hands of outside bandits.

Siddiqui emphasized that if it took going to the streets to defend women’s honor, the MQM-P would not think twice about making any sacrifice. The ad hoc organizing committee of the party was also present at the occasion.

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CM Gandapur and Mohsin Naqvi pledge to cooperate in the fight against terrorism.

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To put an end to terrorism in the province, it was resolved during the conference to step up intelligence-based initiatives.

The deaths of the Chinese nationals in the suicide assault in Shangla were regretted by both leaders. Effective counterterrorism measures were directed by the federal interior minister.

He asserted that the enemies’ and miscreants’ despicable acts could not break the resolve of the Pakistani people.

According to Gandapur, the province’s government is committed to doing everything within its power to combat terrorism and safeguard the lives and property of its citizens.

It is important to note that a suicide bomber in KP’s Bisham crashed his car packed with explosives into a caravan of Chinese nationals, killing at least five of them along with their local driver.

A suicide bomber struck one of the coaches in the convoy of twelve cars en route from Islamabad to Dasu Dam in Kohistan with a vehicle carrying explosives.

Six individuals were killed when the targeted vehicle crashed into a deep ditch due to the fire produced by the explosion.

There is a sizable dam at Dasu, and there have been previous attacks there. Thirteen people were murdered in a bus explosion in 2013, and nine of them were Chinese nationals.

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